Watch the video to find out about the changes the same-sex marriage bill will bring to Taiwan.
Video credit: CGTN
Taiwan’s parliament has passed Asia’s first gay marriage law that legalized same-sex marriages across the self-ruled island.
In 2017, Taiwan’s supreme court ruled that same-sex couples had the constitutional right to marry one another.
The top court gave the island’s parliament a deadline of two years in which the legislators were required to pass the changes by May 24, 2019.
On Friday, May 17, Taiwan’s parliament debated on three different bills to legalize same-sex marriages.
Despite the covert and overt attacks from the conservative lawmakers to scupper the bill, the government’s bill, which was the most progressive of the three proposed bills, was passed.
Protestors from across the island gathered outside the parliament in Taipei on Friday – which also happens to be the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia – to demand same-sex marital equality.
The bill proposed by the government was the only one which offered limited adoption rights and used the word “marriage.”
Despite all its limitations, the bill was backed by gay rights groups to whom it was their best chance of securing somewhat equality with heterosexual couples.
The two other bills didn’t offer adoption rights to same-sex couples and also avoided the word “marriage” to describe their union.
It came after a series of referendums, all of which were won by gay rights activists.
Speaking about the landmark legislation, President Tsai Ing-wen said the government’s bill respected not only the referendums both also the 2017 court judgment.
“I hope everybody can be considerate and tolerate different opinions to show Taiwan is a mature civil society that is capable of handling a divisive issue,” she said.
Taiwan’s LGBTQ community has long been cast aside.
During the last 2 years, many gay couples planned their weddings after May 24th deadline but were unsure of how their union will look like in wake of Taipei’s first-ever gay marriage legislation.
Jennifer Lu, a spokeswoman for Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan, said: “We will have a clear answer this week about how this country will treat gay couples in the future.
“The cabinet’s bill is already a discounted version but it covers the most for now. The other bills are not only unconstitutional but discriminatory.”
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