性別平等價值與宗教自由之衝突－探討天主教學校與性別平等教育法之關係

Abstract

台灣邁向多元文化社會的過程實屬不易，因為在社會內部的不同價值觀呈現相互衝突的情況，其中一環為性別平等價值與宗教自由之衝突。台灣於2004年制定性別平等教育法，其目的為保障學生的受教權並且提供學生多元的受教環境；然而，在性別平等教育法制定之前，教會學校宣導「貞愛教育」以及對於同志學生之態度，與性別團體主張的「性別平等」價值有所衝突。並且，教會學校於2008年年底公開反對適用性別平等教育法關於性少數學生的保障條款，此行動可視為多元文化社會中宗教自由與性別平等價值之衝突，亦可視為教會學校挑戰國家公權力之行為。 本文希望藉由2008年「天主教學校不推動性別平等教育法」事件為焦點，討論多元文化社會中性別平等價值與宗教自由衝突的現象，以及國家在此兩種價值衝突的情況下所扮演的角色，進而如何建立多元文化政策。再者，本文以2000年到2009年之間的宗教團體與性別團體衝突之案例作為描述此兩團體價值衝突的社會脈絡方式，再輔以國內對於宗教自由與性別平等價值之司法實務案例作為討論「天主教學校不推動性別平等教育法」事件中隱含之價值衝突問題。 本文指出「自由的限度」作為「天主教學校不推動性別平等教育法」事件中私立宗教學校主張其行使宗教自由權利的界限，在教育的本質之下學校應以學生的「受教權」為優先。若將此「限度」擴及到多元文化社會下宗教自由與性別平等價值衝突的情形時，應以「權利的層級」做價值的衡量，並且國家在此之中應秉持「中立原則」與「寬容原則」面對多元價值之衝突。

The path to a multicultural society is full of challenges for Taiwan. There are inevitable conflicts among various values, and one of them is between gender equality and religious freedom. Legislated in 2004, Taiwan’s Gender Equality Act aims to ensure every student’s right to education and to provide friendly and safe environment. In fact, before the Gender Equality Act was implemented, Catholic schools’ position on promoting “abstinence education” and their attitude towards gay students have been against the so called “gender equality” value held by other gender NGOs. Moreover, in the late 2008, Catholic schools publicly refused to follow the equal protection clause for sexual minority students. Not merely confronting the government’s authority, the disobedience of Catholic schools also suggests a battlefield of two incompatible ideas: religious freedom and gender equality. This thesis aims to analyze the conflicts between sexual equality and religious freedom in Taiwan by focusing on the event of Catholic Schools disobeying Gender Equity Education Act in 2008, to better understand how the nation played its role when dealing with tensions and how it came to establish multicultural policies in response. Furthermore, this study uses conflict cases between religious groups and gender organizations from 2000 to 2009 to contextualize both sides’ contradictory values, in addition to examining the legal cases concerning religious freedom and gender equality to discuss the submerged issue of contradictory values in the event of “Catholic Schools disobeying Gender Equity Education Act”. In conclusion, this thesis proposes the concept of “limit of freedom” as the baseline for private religious schools to claim their religious freedom in the 2008 event because a student’s right to education should be a school’s first priority. On the other hand, this analysis argues that “power hierarchy” should be evaluated when dealing with conflicts between religious freedom and sexual equality on the basis of “limit of freedom;” and the nation should maintain “neutrality” and “tolerance” towards conflicts of various values.