Addressing heteronormativity: Gendered familial appellations as an issue in the same-sex marriage debate in Taiwan

Abstract

On 24 May 2017, a historical landmark for the LGBT movement was achieved in Taiwan. The courts delivered Interpretation no. 748, which declares that the legal regulation in the Civil Code disallowing two individuals of the same sex to marry is unconstitutional and that the law should therefore be amended within two years. While the legal arguments at the constitutional level seem settled, discussions regarding sexuality, family and tradition triggered by the debate about same-sex marriage are continuing. Drawing on feminist and queer scholarship, I advocate turning the spotlight from the ‘subversive’ homosexual to ‘normative’ heterosexuality. In addition, through the theoretical lens of interactionism on sexuality, this study investigates a quotidian but controversial topic emerging in the debate: gendered familial appellations. Using transcripts of public hearings as research data, I discuss how the practice of employing gendered familial appellations based on the idea of the heterosexual family becomes an issue in the debate. Through an analysis of the matter, I argue that the heteronormative social order embedded in everyday interactions within the context of Taiwan society is revealed. This heteronormativity is not only gendered and hierarchically heterosexual but also ethnocentric in nature.