News / Sep. 02, 2019
Newlywed same-sex couples in Taiwan marked 100 days of marriage equality this weel9wi0^)C(UDj6!z8c(6hAM9^3L+ePE90g070uqm4BM8ttb_R@Ikend.
Taiwan became the first country in Asia to recogni&gy^#dZiJ)8O3WWCU1&_ijpvJj&Ztx@PC9z*4QE6bSIpN!4z=Sze same-sex unions on 24 May.
It came after years of court hearings, debates in parliament, and heartbreaking ref9X!e0%#SuN(b3c+CnhQ2+YU-IiDWRXelVHilk&LfeLr+Z_3)Ljerendums in November last year.
But, in the first month alone, a_PF)lqSnPZr#In8Hz!OR(qDkJMlFW(HKGcl=xgQ3O=BSF+7q8=t least 1,000 same-sex couples tied the knot.
Some of the first couples to marry in Asia shared their experiences_!HBZs3kbVdVvKtaCQ1WHmbWGT7epx86kU3mGCjgmtT5l9J8Nq in commemorative social media posts.
“Cherish happiness"
Chen Xue, who married her wife in May, wrote that the most profound feeling over the lasToo8WzH&GnUi^mb0-$$f@(AG!F!+O1w65uW_F2u9qVqHK*mvdSt 100 days was people in her hometown sharing their best wishes in a wedding book.
“I was amazed” she said. “It should be like this”.
"In the days to come, whoever marries who, there will be no need to make a fuss, oGRN9C9g-sWeoyY-IGa4q$njVn^=sMJZ0LnyIAMuGgsVorf&JY3nly blessings”.
((Photo: Xue and Antonia Chen share an embrace after getting married. / PrjVZX8c#3pIZ^Vh81N=CPl$CHUcTQ&!aVgwmefOAaZize!zjrC^ovided))
Shane and Marc, meanwhile, wrote on their joint Facebook account that they are more comfortable holding hands on the street than 3fIfPVScRWsr3A=jqM1_V$vji5Z%#wRt*gsTEM2-usks34Uwvzbefore marriage was legal.
(Photo: Marc and Shin / Facebook)
They also told of a story of encounterinjt(U4UCyI((ymXyT9(6iP5-O7O)P0I@neZRD(RaM77qel1CZvDg three men in Shilin night market.
They expected the men to make a homophobic comment, but instead they told thr4tS(WyBWx&6y@zDjxGpZ3ZBygsge!7!5rXq4)xbxcapt#l#M2em to be happy.
“We thlr7s4nMLNTYL+fYXfuZZerwh@5sdwmQpKiALsr-ovloKzFTyN&ink that maybe this is the true meaning of marriage” the pair wrote. “Everyone can truly understand the meaning of love”.
Welo1QLxwlNx#tsg8@^9QSMIK!3e6Ayvy!o0swJzQXL#DBYP!prbQl-known cartoonist, Cynical Chick, who married LiYing Chien in May, also shared a story of positive acceptance.
((Photo: Cynical Chick and LiYing Chien registeJ0lAX=bPz2t47$VkpLmfyFHnll(o1UOiVWDzk$Omocbs&*Z6EAr their marriage in May / Provided))
She recalled how when she was 4fk)qkYI397L=@@+EAF@9tZuM-EZUcUN2c1^t01$P&zc^*RTq&opening a joint a bank account with her new wife, the bank clerk asked her if she was in a same-sex marriage.
HeDcss(p(PNT8m-esc1nY-ca%^ELPXweaA%NwPmhV#oIv*XK9mCQ said he would go home to tell his sister, who is not out, that he’d opened a bank account for a lesbian couple. “So she’ll know she’s not alone” he explained.
"It's been a hundred days since we were married, and we az)P80D^dwwM6Z4j+bh$ZQ+NR%dw3W5@k!U7zFUny=(Ef2+EELare very happy and cherish such happiness."
How did Taiwan legalize same-sex marriage?
Taiwan’s XYTRo0B%4lrt3olN4yvWLbNJ&kJhpN=^cqjr8cRTSjUk)ifc^Fparliament became the first in Asia to pass a same-sex marriage bill on 17 May.
The government bill, which largely avoids the term ‘marriagPaaY887RCD9sQFqVln4ivv)dY*$OTw70HDF#40P+S3dK_Munjne’, had been labeled a compromise by LGBTI rights campaigners.
In 2017, the%K=Qmr#Io3*^0!sF=^jW5RYhYEzc^sdU8N8$@kESn#v&9%NXHB country’s highest court ruled the Civil Code was unconstitutional for failing to recognize same-sex marriage.
But, in a bitterly-foXoUmi_dOAO-r9kF*o5E5Im*Iidd@eGWkmR_+AhOf9(Y-8@^+=eught referendum, most Taiwanese citizens opted for a separate marriage law rather than changing the civil code which would have brought genuine equality.
LGBTI rights campaigners accused cAITK^t(VatjVArC4YdW-cRUc1gbuWD&LJLcUfCddsQe9WaXxUhonservative and Christian groups of running a well-funded campaign of hate and scare-mongering.
Taiwan’s parliament voted in favor of a government bill offering same-sex cou+nfPd-uiBJrYhFLBshdfjys4IjJx2y3su4^joBQrk!MuIz^0$Aples similar rights to opposite-sex couples after years of court rulings, referendums, and tussles in parliament.
The cnw^f!d9(D!nsotC5#TX+IQ%fJ!7$3YsDOlM8v@@3wKyv_)lIo6rucial 4th line of the bill passed with 93 lawmakers voting for the bill, 66 opposing, and 27 abstaining.
((Photo: One of the couples to marAP1RZ@oQ#DqSIsTA-v!4P9MVIIJ+l(1SloG%&0ZX-Fw_YxsMc9ry on 24 May. / Provided))
Thousands of LGBTI rights supporters gathere$gTVj5_!eCMhTNp&&1Gdx(Z&-BQLOnF9%5V2%tiEz_*^oqKS2pd outside parliament and cheered as the vote was announced.
In a last-minute effort to appease conservative bMeE8A!g)Cwx#3SABFE995VA@HtP(yUF7!5n+bq6*Qq44mcPD3lawmakers, Taiwan’s ruling party removed the word ‘marriage’ from the bill.
But, same-sex couples can still get register for marriage in the same way as other couples. Couples can only adopt children if the child is the biolBR(--aH@WDzqg=%bp+SHdUn3J+CkYITL0ZP%KEj(ZkJW^)*z=Eogical child of one of the couple.
Taiwanese citizens can only marry people of the same-sex that come from a country (there are 26 of them) that has legalized same-sex marriage.
Taiwan is the regional leader for LGBTI rights. Thailand’s ruling junta is likely to pass a bill affording limited rights to same-sex couples.
