Lin Ying-meng
Taipei City Councilor
Assumed office
25 December 2018
ConstituencyTaipei City District 6
(serving Daan-Wenshan)
Personal details
Born (1983-10-20) 20 October 1983
Taichung, Taiwan
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		New Power Party (2017–2020)
Alma materNational Tsing Hua University

Lin Ying-meng (Chinese: 林穎孟; pinyin: Lín Yǐngmèng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lîm Éng-bēng; born 20 October 1983) is a Taiwanese politician. She has served as a councillor of Taipei City Council since 2018. She was elected councillor representing Taipei City District 6 during the local elections, and is one of the first openly LGBT people voted into local legislatures in Taiwanese history.[1][2]

Early life and education

Lin Ying-meng was born in Taichung on 20 October 1983. She received her education in Stella Matutina Girls' High School, a Catholic missionary school in the city.

She obtained a Bachelor of Humanities and Sociology from National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), situated in the neighbouring city of Hsinchu.[3][4] She then pursued a Master of Sociology in the prestigious National Taiwan University (NTU).[3][4]

When Lin was a child, she was fond of anime, and used to aspire to be a cartoonist.[5] She did field research work in a maid café for two years, in order to understand the social phenomenon. The experience helped her write her graduation thesis in NTU's research institute.[6] Lin assisted in developing mobile apps in a game company after her studies.[7]

Social activism and political career

Lin was initially a volunteer in social movement organisations. She started to know fellow activists Wu Cheng (吳崢) and Freddy Lim during the 2014 Sunflower Student Movement. When the NPP won seats in the Legislative Yuan, the national parliament, Lin was motivated to take part in parliamentary work.[7]

On 24 March 2017, Lin was appointed spokeswoman of NPP headquarters.[8]

As a social and political activist, Lin is concerned about topics such as gender, culture, politics, human rights, political status of Taiwan, transitional justice, generational justice (世代正義) as well as marriage equality.[5] She previously also served as leader of the bills (proposed legislation) team in Legislator Freddy Lim's Office.[9]

She took office as councillor of Taipei City in 2018, on Constitution Day, which coincides with Christmas Day. Her term will end in 2022. As a member of the legislature in the capital of Taiwan, the Taipei City Government and Mayor is responsible to her and her colleagues. When questioned by Lin in 2019, the administration in Taipei confirmed that all same-sex couples who intended to marry on 24 May, the date when same-sex marriage was implemented nationwide, within the capital would be able to do so. All Household Registration Offices would work overtime to accommodate these couples.[2]

Lin left the New Power Party in August 2020.[10] In August 2022, Lin and her former partner were charged with violating the Anti-Corruption Act and the Criminal Code. Lin hired her then-boyfriend, Yeh Yao-chang, as a political aide at the start of her term as councillor. She also paid a student for part-time work. After the student left her office, Lin continued applying for the subsidy that would have paid the student. Separately, Yeh left Lin's office to establish a public relations company, and Lin was accused of forging documents on Yeh's behalf, placing an employee of his on her payroll so that the employee would be paid with public funds.[11]

Personal life

Lin has come out openly as a bisexual woman.[12] On 20 January 2018, she announced during the NPP's anniversary that she would run for the seat of councillor representing Daan-Wenshan, becoming one of the first openly LGBT officials in Taiwan.

Notable works

  • Lin, Ying-meng (2011). 我在「女僕喫茶」工作：跨／次文化中的女性身體與表演勞動 [Working in the 'Meido Kissa': the Female Body and Performative Labor in Cross/Subculture].
  • Li, Ming-tsung; Lin, Ying-meng (December 2013). 從情緒勞動到表演勞動：臺北「女僕喫茶（咖啡館）」之民族誌初探 [From Emotional Labor to Performing Labor: An Ethnographic Study of Taipei's "Maid Café"]. Vol. 53. Taiwanese Journal of Sociology.
  • Lin, Ying-meng; et al. (2015-08-08). 動漫社會學：別說得好像還有救 [Anime sociology: Don't speak of it as if there's still hope]. Kiwi Fruit Studio. ISBN 9789869194327.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "政壇最美發言人大PK！「KMT林志玲」VS. 民進黨鄉民「仙女」 顏值超高". CTITV. 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  2. 1 2 "議員林穎孟質詢獲北市府三點承諾：「5月24日想結婚的同志都結得到」！". LalaTai. 2019-04-11. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  3. 1 2 Chen, Pin-cheng (2016-09-22). "多面向觀察社會議題 增強論述能力". Global Views Monthly (遠見雜誌). Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  4. 1 2 "林穎孟議員". Taipei City Council. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
  5. 1 2 婉昀 (2017-04-12). "從女僕到時代力量發言人！林穎孟：母豬教徒，可能成為女性主義者". Womany (女人迷). Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  6. ↑ "台灣博碩士論文知識加值系統". Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  7. 1 2 "政治立場不同 林穎孟：我爸說我是怪咖". Central News Agency (Taiwan). 2017-02-27. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  8. ↑ Fang, Ping-chao; Chen, Yao-tsung (2017-02-21). "李兆立、吳崢、林穎孟 新任時代力量發言人". Storm Media Group (風傳媒). Retrieved 2018-03-24.
  9. ↑ Liu, Wan-lin (2018-01-21). "投入北市大安文山市議員選舉 林穎孟辭時代力量發言人". UDN. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  10. ↑ Shan, Shelley (6 August 2020). "Bribery Case: Former NPP chairman quits party over scandal". Taipei Times. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  11. ↑ Lin, Chung-hsun; Ko, Lin (12 August 2022). "Taipei city councilor, former aide indicted on corruption charges". Central News Agency. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  12. ↑ "同婚公投挫敗 林穎孟：希望苗博雅有負責態度". Liberty Times.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.