Hornet 同志交友軟體 Gay Social Network

(Photo Source: GagaooLala)

前幾日看到美國在台協會（AIT）高雄分處副處長楚杰生接受同志網站專訪，大方談論自己的同志身分。而且表示：我很好，不過恰巧是gay。在影片當中他也分享了自己"不小心"被父母發現並出櫃的經驗，以及成長過程中，如何慢慢接受自己身為同性戀的事實。

The Deputy Chief of the Kaohsiung Branch of American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), Jason Chue, openly discussed his gay identity in an interview with a gay website. “I am a good man, who just happens to be gay,” he said in the interview. He also shared about the experience of “accidentally” coming out to his parents as well as how he came to term with being gay as he grew up.

成功人士出櫃對於社會的正向影響

Positive Impact on the Society of Successful Figures Coming Out

在台灣相對保守的社會，要公眾人物大方出櫃實屬一件困難的事情，若真要說已經出櫃的名人，在台灣有蔡康永、香港有黃耀明、已故的張國榮，導演關錦鵬(Stanley Kwan)、國外演藝人員有瑞奇·馬汀(Ricky Martin)、艾爾頓·約翰（Elton John）更是有蘋果的CEO蒂姆·庫克(Tim Cook)、冰島女總理約翰娜·西古達朵提(Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir)、德國自由民主黨主席基多·威斯特威勒(Guido Westerwelle)、NBA球星傑森-科林斯(Jason Collins)等等，不勝枚舉。業界成功人士的公開出櫃，具有帶給在櫃子裡的其他同志勇氣、信心、以及效法的指標。不但擁有社會正向激勵作用，更有機會反轉一般異性戀反對同性時的陰暗、情慾亂竄、轟趴吸毒等刻板印象，或者娘娘腔、陰柔等負面想法。畢竟，同志除了性向不同以外，每天的生活作息、上班工作、吃喝拉撒並沒有不同啊。

In the relatively conservative society of Taiwan, coming out isn’t easy for public figures. Some of the celebrities that have come out to the public include Kevin Tsai(蔡康永) in Taiwan, as well as Anthony Wong(黃耀明), the late Leslie Cheung(張國榮), director Stanley Kwan(關錦鵬) in Hong Kong. There are also Ricky Martin, Elton John, and Apple’s current CEO, Tim Cook, as well as Iceland’s former Prime Minister, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Germany’s politician, Guido Westerwelle, NBA’s Jason Collins, and so on. The coming out of public figures in different fields not only gives closeted gay men courage and faith, but they also set a positive example. This has the potential to reverse the negative portrait of the gay community by the media. After all, except their sexual orientation, gay men are no different from the straight ones.