News / Sep. 02, 2019
Newlywed same-sex couples in Taiwan marked 100 days of marriage eqWqCrmOXtTyg@XYyz+2i9I&=P!NJ0_Vg%!^)MIWEQGpRmhwXIoYuality this weekend.
Taiwan became the first country in Asia to recognize same-PpO&j%DfWZim3d9NvR@kGz8YVwnU#qGLbs6&G4wiwW0AZUr-Qvsex unions on 24 May.
It came after years of cournJa&zc^6p51tp_iJ7Sj&9cnub2K1uLWh(k%LQyoYJm(HPsk-9Ct hearings, debates in parliament, and heartbreaking referendums in November last year.
B4_0ISyeWq8*kp=0G77Lw#1!4k4@1_Midn8GzrUiL1O(cSmVodXut, in the first month alone, at least 1,000 same-sex couples tied the knot.
Some of the first couples to marry in Asia shared their experiences in commemorative social mediJ+CAL18_IPwJ$LN+pTF590gxkyp#-o@kxC6pe!QQcPjFZ#6cbva posts.
“Cherish happiness"
Chen Xue, who married her wife in May, wrote that the most profound feeling over the last 100 days was people in her hometown sharing their best wishes in a wedding bR-uRzVtmqssBJbxrvjiI2-DH3oX(3ESRwq6hvQ4x@wYCk&Q7zpook.
“I was amazed” she said. “It should be like this”.
"In the days to come, whTqSdFbt@P@a_nk&#RwG2=fVCfXgobcgW0Nq4yTLZ7j!oEuVVgSoever marries who, there will be no need to make a fuss, only blessings”.
(Photo: Xue and8k2eop#&v2VRN6ktjdvfY#hMyXyYf!8(CrIut#5xyV5YDgQvCB Antonia Chen share an embrace after getting married. / Provided)
Shane and Marc, meanwhile, wrote on their joint Facebook account that they are more comfortable holding hands on the street than before )M_AI&_k$jH-gm4)YERKDMWofB6lQ%%h0AnLr!+=Pi#xtP$cRnmarriage was legal.
(Photo: Marc and Shin / Facebook)
They also told of a sto0$5MiUaRkli=F#nyX##8lLy+2U=MWjW*B)AUa=j+%0qHcrrJIUry of encountering three men in Shilin night market.
They expected the men to make a homophobic comment)1PtGEogv0CxLuP(l+jqmn!dLNWbvm%(4AGhzS%K$GyL9_IwyG, but instead they told them to be happy.
“We think that maybe this is the true meaning of marriage”0-e-oJP+Q&Uzzwcl8&cssjc4U=NKbS8pWktX(!sb_!_zO16^Go the pair wrote. “Everyone can truly understand the meaning of love”.
Well-known cartoonist, Cynical Chick, who married LM$(Ax9zR5A&TCz4G0=MrY5VX0kYEiJ)s9BqoTwTO6E3hyaEbyBiYing Chien in May, also shared a story of positive acceptance.
(Po4p@levoc*Nc@i4qKOw3&391Sg6HM)Pc-smGOYohN0xbR*3tiNhoto: Cynical Chick and LiYing Chien register their marriage in May / Provided)
She recalled how when she was opening a joint a bank account with YVf5X(b4dt6t5lqWL70*k14I*P9W5T&6-cUzznUn!xlvFFK7bPher new wife, the bank clerk asked her if she was in a same-sex marriage.
He said he would go home to tell his sister, who is not out, that he’qtlL(V9qkA$cyEu8TASOW$9*m+%mEt$Vg02i&mz11yev-RO+eMd 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 are very happy and cherish such happnaYyxdOFn=t!7gJ(^YGGxcMu7cBoy0P84E1*JwEw_te+d1WT%4iness."
How did Taiwan legalize same-sex marriage?
Taiwan’s parliament became the first in Asia to pG!JC4=jxJosfzK%hCS(r0%HUeAMB*NUkShw(%r@AW2jg8)SNV#ass a same-sex marriage bill on 17 May.
The government bill, which largely avoids the term ‘marriage’, had been labeled a compromise by LGBTI rVnr!9^C=vv(sMqE08YLDF%^bLc$8!bNqBPWmfs4fGQFNsldjU%ights campaigners.
In 2017, the country’s highest court ruled the Civil Code was unconstitutional for failing to recIA7ai8rh+a6I*fUmdF_$ZO@)6BXLwn$a!dUih-asG$Qli3n*R2ognize same-sex marriage.
But, in a bitterly-fought referendum, most Taiwanese citizens opted for a separate marriage law Om$GUYEQ1^j2s&N6%&xxH%qsesrNV=nbIDu=XVshsz0IMdrX+urather than changing the civil code which would have brought genuine equality.
LGBTI rights campaigners amWy9(R*9p**mWjVhMkn^Y4S%=*Kvk9nA1d5HP3EQiP#1sxLua-ccused conservative and Christian groups of running a well-funded campaign of hate and scare-mongering.
Taiwan’s parliament voted in favor of a government bill offering same-sex coupLgP3gVVL9u2IyLK2q+qLY3QS-tx7lmsE1Iz**_jm)a6upI-Z+hles similar rights to opposite-sex couples after years of court rulings, referendums, and tussles in parliament.
The crucial 4th line of the bill passed with 93 lawmakers votjf=0g^6_^WUW=fUnzVzi1dS)g9yVHfU*7Dbx6QQiL=18ZqV%dcing for the bill, 66 opposing, and 27 abstaining.
(Pho7jK1OAA#D4Sfu-$z(UB0&9z)k6T5D$rbet#OMi#FfG_PsXHpaqto: One of the couples to marry on 24 May. / Provided)
Ta3aPuc4xJE4Nsk&xXOG_KykD!$AqscsN=2Px&c@4koocTN=#L+housands of LGBTI rights supporters gathered outside parliament and cheered as the vote was announced.
In a last-minute effort to appease conservative lawmakers, Taiwan’s ruy7sUVAqbqPvgtq)vDxnp^cUUG&%QF59#0wEuK#G%r2o5X1CIN+ling party removed the word ‘marriage’ from the bill.
But, same-sex m*hniEZ=6hXa+yTvi0FyRssQ%*W-kXrr=Y0Y@%fQX*vDGSKJO+couples can still get register for marriage in the same way as other couples. Couples can only adopt children if the child is the biological 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 marriagnZpPP-0pg2lMad_Dym7D9lW@upAddsVf(1*b4Lh$doFjKj#Ezee.
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.
