Civil Society Groups Criticize Continued Attempts to Remove Transgender Draft Exemptions | New Bloom Magazine At 10:15 AM this morning on Transgender Day of Visibility, the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights co-hosted a press conference with Amnesty International Taiwan…

"Civil Society Groups Criticize Continued Attempts to Remove Transgender Draft Exemptions" by @yolingwrites.bsky.social

Time: January 28, 1900-2100 Place: DAYBREAK (Bangka Boulevard, No. 110, 1F, Wanhua District, Taipei / 台北市萬華區艋舺大道110號1樓) Entry Fee: 100 NT Speakers: Kamoshita Yuichi (鴨下祐一) and Aihara Sarasa (相原更紗) Moderator: Yo-Ling Chen

January 28, 2026 - 2:30pm - 3:30pm Journalism at the Edge at UC Irvine school of Humanities

Wed:
@newbloommag.net host Conversation "Peacebuilding across Taiwan & Okinawa" w/ Kamoshita Yuichi, Aihara Sarasa &
@yolingwrites.bsky.social as moderator
&

At @ucirvine.bsky.social Discussion: "Journalism at the Edge" w/ @emilyzfeng.bsky.social @satopol.bsky.social &
@jwassers.bsky.social
5/

Taiwan LGBTQ+ Groups Criticize Conscription Criteria Amendment Requiring Alternative Service for Transgender and Intersex People | New Bloom Magazine Over the past two weeks, multiple LGBTQ+ groups have issued statements criticizing draft amendments to conscription criteria that would end blanket exemptions for transgender and intersex people…

"Taiwan LGBTQ+ Groups Criticize Conscription Criteria Amendment Requiring Alternative Service for Transgender and Intersex People" by @yolingwrites.bsky.social

The revelations in this piece about how Taiwan Pride organizer TWRCAA essentially drove out their transgender chairperson this year are beyond damning. Definitely stay tuned this week for more on Taiwan Trans March and Taiwan Pride and follow @ginollopez.bsky.social for further coverage ~

I wish I was making this up: conservative groups in Taiwan continue eulogizing Charlie Kirk in an attempt to build a Turning Point Taiwan "young conservatives movement." Students not having it protested their event yesterday and were attacked by event participants, and then labelled as "terrorists"

Fact Check: No, There Is Not A New Survey Showing Trans Identity Is Decreasing The claim, which originates from far-right professor Eric Kaufmann, appears to have made a glaring error: the survey actually shows more people have come out, not fewer.

Great reporting from @erininthemorning.com. If anything mattered anymore, this kind of analysis, and the overzealous misuse of the data would be humiliating.

2025 Taiwan Pride Controversy Explained: 
LGBTQ+ Community Speaks Out Against Transphobia and Contempt for Sexual Rights | New Bloom Magazine This past week, controversy erupted throughout Taiwan’s LGBTQ+ community after it was discovered that the Administrative and Public Relations Director of this year’s Taiwan Pride march posted on her…

have been learning a lot about the LGBTQIA community in Taiwan despite being here only for about 10 days... (i purposefully chose to apply for a residency in October to overlap with Pride)

thank you Yo-Ling for the summary

newbloommag.net/2025/10/14/2...

Please share this explainer article on the Taiwan Pride controversy this year so that all participants can know what they are walking into~

Proud of so many Taiwanese LGBTQ+ organizations coming out in support of intra-movement solidarity and against any nefarious attempts to split us apart ❤

I am personally in touch w/ some of these families, and am coordinating/liaisoning between New Bloom and the other orgs/activists that are part of this global grassroots initiative.

Please sign-up and share widely with your networks/circles: ylcurl.short.gy/NBPMMAI

re-posting as a note to self

Screenshot from ThaiPBS news of Thai caretaker PM on right Malaysian PM middle and Cambodian PM left doing a 3 way handshake.

Thai PBS news reporting that a Ceasefire has been agreed between Thailand & Cambodia. Unconditional & starting at midnight.

This is a good start & good news for the peoples of both countries. Lets hope it holds.

#NoWarThaiCambodia

As of today, it is confirmed that 24 #KMT lawmakers face being voted out of office on July 26, and an additional 7 on Aug. 23.

So **31** out of the 52 legislative seats held by the KMT are being challenged.

This includes former KMT chair Johnny Chiang and Hualien Monarch Fu Kun-chi.

Here's why 👇

Well said!

Conflicting media reports. MOFA is at least showing some awareness of how truly unprecedented a direct foreign government donation to a West Bank settlement project is...

Historic Support: Taiwan donates to new medical center in Binyamin region The State of Taiwan has decided to make a significant donation to the “Nanasi” Medical Center in Binyamin.

Earlier this month, Israel National News lauded Taiwan's supposed decision as "the first time a foreign country has decided to donate toward the development of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria."

www.israelnationalnews.com/news/411231?...

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told media that the government has not officially made a donation pledge to the Binyamin Medical Center project and is only "in talks," which contradicts how Israeli media have reported on this "historic support"

udn.com/news/story/6...

If you missed my talk "Misinformation in the Age of 'AI'" at the Durham County Library, Digging down on dis-/misinformation, authoritarianism, generative "AI", the stakes for consensus reality, and what we can try to do about it, the recording is now up on the tubes:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=THE5...

The Republic of China and Israel, 1911–2003 The relations between the Republic of China (ROC), the Zionist founding founders, and the state of Israel can be broken down into five distinct phases: (1) Active support for Zionism from the Balfo...

ROC-Israel relations didn't thaw until the 1990s since Israel's strategic recognition of the PRC in 1950 was felt as a betrayal of the ROC's early recognition of Israel. I think Taiwan's self-interested brown-nosing to problematic states is the better framing.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Why Taiwan pledges to Israeli settlement project may mar its own global support ‘I don’t think Palestinians will be going there for medical services. I’m not buying it,’ NGO monitor says.

Deeply unfortunate for Taiwan to actively participate in Israel's genocide in this way--Taiwan seems curiously unaware of the optics of this, even as it calls for international support for itself

www.scmp.com/news/china/p...

The Taiwanese press has yet to cover this story...

archive.ph/XCdNa

Why Taiwan pledges to Israeli settlement project may mar its own global support ‘I don’t think Palestinians will be going there for medical services. I’m not buying it,’ NGO monitor says.

Shame on Taiwan for spitting in the face of international law and ongoing apathy to the genocide of Palestinians by making this historic, bold, and morally bankrupt decision to become the first country to DIRECTLY donate to a settlement project in the West Bank.

www.scmp.com/news/china/p...

“Demand a Red Line Against Genocide” Protest Held for Gaza in Liberty Plaza | New Bloom Magazine A demonstration in support of Gaza was held today in Liberty Plaza, despite sweltering heat. The main organizer of the protest was Amnesty International Taiwan. The demonstration began at 4 PM under…

"'Demand a Red Line Against Genocide' Protest Held for Gaza in Liberty Plaza" by @brianhioe.bsky.social

OUT NOW - our episode on US v. Skrmetti, the case upholding TN’s ban on gender affirming care for minors.

With @chasestrangio.bsky.social

@profmmurray.bsky.social @kateshaw.bsky.social @leahlitman.bsky.social

crooked.com/podcast/scot...

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court delivered a new, crushing blow, upholding Tennessee's ban in a 6-to-3 decision. In allowing Tennessee to outlaw blockers and hormones, the court not only shielded similar laws on the books in some two dozen states. It effectively closed the door on extending new constitutional protections to trans people. Some advocates fear that Skrmetti could open the door to banning medical transition for adults and perhaps other health care that some conservatives oppose, like birth control or in vitro fertilization - even vaccines. The fate of a once-obscure medical treatment could have profound consequences for American law.

If an 11,000-word story has a major, factual error in the fifth graf, it probably should be seen for the biased, hit-piece it is.

“Harming Young People”: Chase Strangio on SCOTUS Trans Heathcare Ban & End of LGBTQ Suicide Hotline In a 6-3 decision on Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender youth, paving the way for other bans on trans healthcare to remain...

"Harming Young People": Chase Strangio on SCOTUS Trans Heathcare Ban & End of LGBTQ Suicide Hotline

Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics In 1965, one of Mao Zedong’s most loyal lieutenants, the political theorist Chen Boda, came up with a bold scheme for industrial development in China: centering the electronics industry. Mao seemed in...

Should Huawei be feared? How did it rise when others failed? What distinguishes capitalism in China from those in the West?
For @chinafile.bsky.social, I write about the most controversial telecom giant, in review of Eva Dou's fascinating new book, House of Huawei: www.chinafile.com/reporting-op...

BREAKING: 9 trans rights activists arrested in front of Supreme Court while protesting Skrmetti ruling Nine activists were arrested outside the Supreme Court and detained for two hours, according to organizers.

Advocate 20 Jun 25 -- 9 members of Gender Liberation Movement (GLM) arrested for protesting Skrmetti ruling by blockading the Supreme Court courthouse and unfurling trans flag. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

On average, VUMC has provided five gender affirming surgeries to minors every year since its transgender clinic opened in 2018. All were over the age of 16 and had parental consent, and none received genital procedures.

Important context to the Supreme Court ruling is that Tennessee only has one gender clinic for kids and it performs 5 top surgeries per year.

This entire "debate" is about a phenomenon — large numbers of kids being rushed into hormones and surgeries — that doesn't exist.
apnews.com/article/heal...

Powerful @newbloommag.net panel tonight on Palestine solidarity organizing in the US vs Taiwan featuring Hazem Almassry, @kerim.one, Rebecca Karl, and @aurorachang.bsky.social

#FreePalestine