News / Oct. 25, 2019
At least 2,025 same-sex couples have got married in the five months since Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage, a cabinetrN-E#5Q$LSA4lmN6oQin4FHay(-8Nxlyf4bkulMM5UPfD0hYFk spokesperson said on Friday.
It comes asR+wX0(oYbBYkf4tpHS+2MqI6c&X#lFeL6wxyHW9hU)$4WHlAsW Taipei prepares for the largest-ever LGBT pride parade in Asia.
Some 200,000 people a6L1jfsQh#umDM)7m-v8zdhkSil+c+G-Ow5^Uqz%g6Rzdsg66(&re expected to march from Taipei’s City Hall to the Presidential Office on Saturday.
It is the first pride parade since Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage in-qt8WbsrKDJH^C+jw(A_aB6bXwQuZijNcURS=Vk!P8^vkpnzC$ May. It is also the first time that Taiwan Pride expanded to include weeks of cultural events.
For the first time, the parade will start from Taipei City Hall Plaza and travel across the city to the Presidential Palace at KetagalaL88aO&#Qp_oQTs^iDLz@uc&g6qEKg8r#-hLL4VQCOxib2AS9Ion Boulevard.
A newly-installed rainbow crossing has proved popular with Taipei citizens, wit&8)f0$Q7PNp9NKlXg6-WOYmTYPoj8@GbTKEv+EJg2KvN@PBKUyh people sharing photos and selfies of the crossing on social media.
Google this week updated the maps for the city to show the parade route in rainbow colors.+$dzb1queVEetP(yKNUzx3ssJkz)WbsHivGaTIfYG$*jMoTmWn
First in Asia
After court rulings, referendums, and drama in parliament, Taiwan on 17 MalXA-jvb^fuRd4%n&p+BxFJRN@#h^n!IjdgH2!dd-DnoOf-2(phy finally enacted a bill that allowed same-sex couples to marry.
But, it does not afford them exactly the same rights as same-sex couples. For example, same-sex couples may only adopt a child i#*+fnTMZtEp+y@Cm0TxVu08AUcZ0e5yY3JD3j%kMs@%=8S)64ef it is the biological child of one of the couple.
The bill also limits transnational marriages. For a foreign national to marry in Taiwan, same-sex marriage must be legal in their#8Xrqp$&BsINhqx2^!HqBP@$UMDS$EB=usVdF5)swFd2XJYIRO own country.
Taiwan’s parliamenRdSxf#1_4vN@Dje9N4S&_IFa(M5&Lct4Ou+7W(yQp$KVHE)m%Vt approved a bill to legalize same-sex marriage on Friday 17 May. It voted in favor of a government bill offering same-sex couples similar rights to opposite-sex couples after years of court rulings, referendums, and tussles in parliament.
The government bill, which largely avoids the term ‘marriage’, has been labeled a compromise by LGBTI rights campaigners.
In 2017, the country’s highest court ruled the Civil Code was unconstitutional for failing to recognize same-sex marriage.
But, in a bitterly-fought referendum, most Taiwanese citizens opted for a sepaNGh(KGCj4Sj=mn$TKU--vquh3IvN^j%Pnrjlqsmm5Ti0a2_EJarate marriage law rather than changing the civil code which would have brought genuine equality.
LGBTI rights campaigners accused conservative and Christian groups of runJp4qs%)Ph_Qf3%14##YIr0emOkYzZ4qDUtzxw3M0h_f47kG-Bmning a well-funded campaign of hate and scare-mongering.
The crucial 4th line of the bill passed with 93 lawmakers voting for the bill, 66 opposing, and 27 abstauj1nGJ(Q2UQxn47#iZYa0*oq!mMsjVRZoilzT6N&G4H!GfaBtcining.
