Question 1: Oh my goodness, I live in PINGTUNG. …is there any scene here? Are there any other queer/lesbian/bi women/women-identified people here??? Will I ever have any luck?
Question 2: Say I do find a scene/queer womyn here, or I do in Kaohsiung. OR say I suspect the woman I like is queer but I don’t know for sure. How can I delicately ask a woman out in this culture? I don’t want to offend her / lose a friend, and I don’t want to become a hate crime.
You might try this place. It’s supposed to be run by two lesbians from Kaohsiung. I think it may have just re-opened.
facebook.com/PingDongShiOuMuTingYuanKaFei
屏東市豐年街57號, Taipei, Taiwan 900
Fengnian st. No. 57., Pingdong
Fortunately, this should be the least of your worries. In my five years in Taiwan, I’ve noticed much more acceptance of, or even indifference to, gay people than in where I came from in the U.S. I attribute this to a basically non-existent (radical) Christian influence on the majority of Taiwanese people.
I’m a gay man and have never experienced nor heard of gay hate crimes here. And, although PDA is not the norm even for straight couples, I’ve noticed more Lesbians holding hands and playfully interacting in public places like buses and MRTs than I ever expected.
Fortunately, this should be the least of your worries. In my five years in Taiwan, I’ve noticed much more acceptance of, or even indifference to, gay people than in where I came from in the U.S. I attribute this to a basically non-existent (radical) Christian influence on the majority of Taiwanese people.
I’m a gay man and have never experienced nor heard of gay hate crimes here. And, although PDA is not the norm even for straight couples, I’ve noticed more Lesbians holding hands and playfully interacting in public places like buses and MRTs than I ever expected.[/quote]
Yet there are bigoted voices everywhere. No, you will not be abused, spit on, or hit for your sexual orientation, but small-minded people may say things behind your back and try to keep their distance from you. In the grand scheme of things, that’s relatively minor.
The bigger problem is of course family. Everyone’s willing to accept homosexuality in Taiwan – as long as it doesn’t “happen” to one of their relatives.
Yep, hence plenty of what I call filial marriages here—get married, have a kid to please mom & dad, grandma, whomever. The pressure’s not so bad if you have straight brothers and sisters, but it sucks if you’re an only child.
Anyway, OP, hope you can find others to help you enjoy your life in Pingdong.
You may want to try a lesbian social/dating app on your smartphone, with GPS: play.google.com/store/search?q=lesbian%20dating
Trial and error to see which one is the most popular in Taiwan.
you can try the Brenda app on your smartphone… although i’m not too sure about the population of English speaking lesbians in Pingdong. I think Kaohsiung should have way more places to meet women. If you are fluent in Chinese I can direct you to some local social network sites for lesbians.
Hate crime is not possible in Taiwan. I would think because there’s less Catholics/Christians/Muslims here but can’t be too certain that it’s the reason. To answer your question, I usually just come out once I know someone well enough. I had several friends replied “me too”, and I thought they were straight lol.
lots of prejudice here, but like mentioned i have not seen any actual violence or whatnot to gays in Pingtung. that said its pretty hush hush. You can try aboriginal areas, they are far more open about their sexuality than the hua ren populace. your problem likely wont be anything towards you, but towards any future partner and their mortal fear of their family finding out. this will also partly play on how old you are, younger generations, as expected, seem more open to the idea.
dont feel bad about the shy thing, there is a lot of social “rules” whether gay or not. im straight and until i actually had the wedding ceremony me and my girlfriend could not hold hands in public, kiss etc. it was quite frustrating, but it is what it is. will depend heavily on the community you are residing too.