‘Only filial piety can produce heirs, not homosexuals!’: an exploration of the glocalised rhetoric of the pro-family movement in Taiwan

Abstract

ABSTRACT Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2019. The call of legalising same-sex marriage began in 2013, along with the emergence of the Christian-led pro-family movement. Religious backlash came to its peak in 2013 and successfully gained politicians’ and public’s support to fight against same-sex marriages and LGBT-inclusive gender equity education. The rhetoric device of the pro-family movement in Taiwan can be connected to rhetoric devices of pro-family and anti-gender movements across the globe. By analysing the narrative of two Christian newspapers, Chinese Christian Tribune and Christian Daily, this article points out three perspectives that made up the picture of Confucian apocalypse. In this article, the concept of ‘Confucian apocalypse’ is used to illustrate the process of indigenisation of global pro-family and anti-gender movements in Taiwan where the Christian population is around 5.5%.