Miao Poya (born October 2, 1987) is a politician and social activist in Taiwan, affiliated with the Social Democratic Party (SDP). She was elected to Taipei City Council in 2018 and reelected in 2022, representing the sixth council constituency, which covers the Daan and Wenshan districts of Taipei. Her public work has included opposition to the death penalty, judicial reform, and advocacy for gender equality and same-sex marriage. (bulletin.cec.gov.tw)
Education and early public activity
Miao attended Taipei First Girls’ High School and graduated from National Taiwan University, where she studied law in the financial and economic law division. Her professional experience before elected office included legal work at a law firm and a technology company. She subsequently served as legal director of the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty. (bulletin.cec.gov.tw)
Her involvement in opposition to the death penalty preceded her electoral career. A January 2013 publication by the alliance identified her as a volunteer who had joined after participating in its judicial citizen-journalism training in 2012. She later worked on judicial reform as a full-time social-movement worker. (taedp.org.tw)
Miao also participated in the 2014 Sunflower Movement. In a 2024 interview marking its tenth anniversary, she described the movement as an impetus for entering electoral politics and emphasized the relationship between social activism and institutional political reform. (cna.com.tw)
Electoral career
Miao first sought national elected office in the 2016 legislative election, standing in Taipei’s eighth constituency. She did not win a seat. Her subsequent electoral campaigns shifted initially to municipal politics. (web.cec.gov.tw)
In 2018, she won election to Taipei City Council as an SDP candidate for Daan and Wenshan. Miao and fellow successful Taipei candidate Lin Ying-meng were reported as Taiwan’s first openly lesbian city council members. Miao secured a second council term in the 2022 local elections. (eyeontaiwan.com)
For the 2024 legislative election, Miao stood in Taipei’s sixth national legislative constituency, covering Daan, with support from the Democratic Progressive Party under its cross-party electoral cooperation initiative. She received 74,375 votes but did not win the seat. This national constituency was distinct from the larger Daan–Wenshan constituency she represented on the city council. (tcmb.culture.tw)
Advocacy and municipal priorities
Miao’s advocacy has encompassed gender equality, LGBT rights, same-sex marriage, labor rights, and judicial reform. These activities have included both civil-society work and electoral campaigning. (eyeontaiwan.com)
In a 2018 interview about her municipal candidacy, she identified worker protections, childcare, and care for older people as areas in which local government could act. She specifically discussed labor inspections and labor education as municipal responsibilities. She also identified Taiwan’s democratic institutions and the implications of Taipei’s exchanges with China as matters of concern in local politics. (newbloommag.net)
References
- 臺北市第六選舉區第14屆議員選舉公報bulletin.cec.gov.tw
- 太陽花從政 苗博雅：改革不只靠社運也要政治配合【專訪】cna.com.tw
- Taiwan to see first-ever openly lesbian council memberseyeontaiwan.com
- 臺北市第六選舉區第13屆議員選舉公報web.cec.gov.tw
- 鄭性澤獲釋 苗博雅：擋下索命子彈cna.com.tw
- 《廢話電子報》2013年開年特刊｜廢話25-6｜殺，無法止殺（苗博雅）taedp.org.tw
- 專訪：苗博雅newbloommag.net
- 2024社會民主黨臺北市大安區立委參選人苗博雅面紙tcmb.culture.tw
- Taiwan’s Road to Marriage Equality: Politics of Legalizing Same-sex Marriagehomepage.ntu.edu.tw
- Interview: Miao Poya (苗博雅)newbloommag.net