News / Aug. 13, 2019
Taiwan’s renowned LGBTI activist Chi Chia-wei has launched a campaign to encourage regional leaders to legalize same)#ejC9c&&)bRPOXZZK$aRVk^Aw3uVk77B0AunY*x@pb^Pcf&L--sex marriage.
Chi Chia-wei will give a replica of the pen president Tsai Ing-wen usedl92)Ej4+6Gx6yaPIgSbelB#-q6scTzYpF#4gm9SpVrekY1zMPD to sign Taiwan’s historic legislation in May this year.
Taiwd6kQgS^k4RiKj(D=&k2plztT73MkHRr32UoD9hMS6dmKr*@4*Dan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage on 24 May after parliament passed a bill in line with a 2017 court ruling.
President Tsai gifted Chi Cd2&-&1dhm_W7aRkNbD!dl8*J8p9PdOHlvd66HV(EIr&O^!qm7Xhia-wei the pen she used to sign the bill to recognize his decades of campaigning for LGBTI rights.
Now, Chi Chia-wei and the has created six replicas and named them the ‘pen oV+kDNbeIWL#pR(!BvIY47XxY!c_Nndm0s#C+T@EH#2FiOC%S(tf equality’.
Chi Chia-Wei will gift the Pen of EqTCiE50fZ8NOcMhFl!PEJq&()*v1J9J(iutFkWoB(#mEnI&0-sQuality to Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
"My name is Chi Chia-UfguIRr$SHEPx(iL*nOs5@dHFH_f4F(MAORKEMcrJEC)o6=q*3wei and I have been committed to promoting same-sex marriage in Taiwan for the last 30 years" his message to South Korea’s leader Moon Jae-in.
"I am presenting this to you in the hope that you will share in our ambitioW7h64qd=3VSIkbQW_O3ZvNK^8ErjlaKD1fcDt!pNFmhV%zFQ0hn for marriage equality."
"We hope Taiwan’s progress in same-sex marriage can insp8yxGV=9V4*YlMOXnfU*P7&YB7h2Nhy3&fVgALe-Mh3pmiJPlDUire other countries in Asia" Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan said in a Facebook post.
Regional rights
After years of court hearings, debates in parliament, and heartbreaking referendSPn)a*qXQ^6xs_*BZTkn(E*sSKV$HZBo=^6$EsVCD2(%8*DGq4ums in November last year, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to recognize same-sex marriages.
In the first m4h7h!raBjGgio(PJJbAghj)WbEW#fmYU%Cd6K72Q6dxSFiME8Lonth alone. 1,000 same-sex couples tied the knot.
Regionally, ThaPU)4kKlWE$66nd@3tP@%agywpNkdlorHz)NwgnGkOpD1u1MwG%iland is the closest to equal marriage. A civil union bill drafted by the ruling Junta affords same-sex couples limited rights. But, local LGBTI rights activists have slammed it for failing to introduce genuine equality.
A similar ‘civil partnerships’ bill is being debated by the Philippines’ CongresX+EyTM#ed&wyi#Nnu#ulMNdsSxZJ1%PLtH_&YfCK)Qq@Fmk%(^s.
Rights groups, meanwhile, have warned of deterioranq+u9dzy0t13PHbs-y5SGrE#lk(W@jQMj9d*NcA=u5B3FPNP%fting LGBT rights in South Korea.
Recent increased visibility of the LGBT community has&Nvd-bAnv$9UNbT8q9@Eat49-h&*i8WyrOx2y8t(N)Z%sk8HOR sparked a backlash from conservative Christians. Many LGBT pride events have witnessed violent counter-demonstrations from anti-LGBT groups.
