Born: 1981
Biography:
Audrey Tang Feng (Chinese: 唐凤; pinyin: Táng Fèng) is a Taiwanese free software programmer and the inaugural Minister of Digital Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan). She has been described as one of the ten greatest Taiwanese computing personalities. In August 2016, Tang was invited to join Taiwan’s Executive Yuan as a minister without portfolio, making her the first transgender person and the first non-binary official in the top executive cabinet. Tang has identified as post-gender and accepts whatever pronoun people want to describe me with online. Tang is a community leader of Haskell and Perl and the core member of g0v.
Early Life and Career:
Audrey Tang was born Autrijus Tang Tsung-han (Chinese: 唐宗翰) on April 18, 1981, to parents Tang Kuang-hua and Lee Ya-ching. Lee Ya-ching helped develop Taiwan’s first consumer co-operative, and together with indigenous teachers, co-developed an experimental primary school.
Tang exhibited exceptional intellectual abilities from a young age. She started reading works of classical literature before the age of five, delved into advanced mathematics before the age of six, and began programming before she turned eight. Tang’s talent for programming led her to learn Perl at the tender age of 12. During her childhood, she also spent some time in Germany.
However, Tang struggled with the traditional education system and dropped out of junior high school when she was just 14 years old. Showing remarkable resilience and determination, by the year 2000, at the age of 19, Tang had already held positions in software companies and worked as an entrepreneur in California’s Silicon Valley.
Transition and Advocacy:
In late 2005, Tang embarked on a journey of self-discovery and began transitioning to female. As part of this process, she changed her English and Chinese names to better align with her gender identity. Tang expressed the need to reconcile her outward appearance with her self-image, stating that she had been living almost exclusively online for many years due to social expectations.
In 2019, Tang further identified as post-gender or non-binary, embracing a fluid understanding of gender identity. When asked about pronoun preferences, Tang emphasized the importance of focusing on the experience rather than the specific pronouns used, stating, I’m not just non-binary. I’m really whatever, so do whatever.
Contributions to Free Software and Community Leadership:
Audrey Tang has been an influential figure in the free software community. She initiated and led the Pugs project, a collaborative effort between the Haskell and Perl communities aimed at implementing the Perl 6 language. Additionally, Tang made significant contributions to internationalization and localization efforts for various free software programs, including SVK, Request Tracker, and Slash.
Tang’s contributions also extend to the development of innovative software applications. She created Ethercalc, a web-based spreadsheet editor, building upon the work of Dan Bricklin on WikiCalc and their collaboration on SocialCalc. Moreover, Tang played a key role in heading Traditional Chinese translation efforts for several open-source-related books.
Throughout her career, Tang has been a vocal advocate for autodidacticism, the self-directed pursuit of knowledge, and anti-capitalist anarchism. She has championed the importance of self-education and has actively promoted these principles within the software community.