Taiwan newlyweds mark 100 days of marriage equality

Newlywed same-sex couples in Taiwan marked 100 days of mfZQ^RwW0v+B_+G9GR2QosU#&!HbkOXcTsnb3Xs==Z5moyjMV2farriage equality this weekend.

Tf+S%ogusCeHDiysaOn68MSz9J*4Jf*[email protected](6D*6N(aiwan became the first country in Asia to recognize same-sex unions on 24 May.

It came after years of court hearings, debates in parliam[email protected]_P-W6_xLj9Jn*eNMET20Fu=zwq4Ld*c#RcLent, and heartbreaking referendums in November last year.

ButGwCVK!ubbSwM*fs1-l)[email protected]+8kyZOb, in the first month alone, at least 1,000 same-sex couples tied the knot. 

Some of the first couples to marry in A_g^[email protected]#LNn%ArHUiREW94C_jO(msia shared their experiences in commemorative social media posts.

“Cherish happiness"

Ch_ORCHL%8^!&z14^XffHc2Xxp_GNR!mM1oBR0Vw*fsJP$Ij8B0Ien 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 book.

“I was amazed” she said. “It should be like this”.

"In the days to cMxHzfUN^[email protected]%Ppw_L=TIQNAt35AmZpome, whoever marries who, there will be no need to make a fuss, only blessings”.

((Photo: Xue and Antonia Chen share an embrace after getting married. / @bDLbhH_zZF_QG3^)[email protected]!YXBK51h^h6zC2&tTC8Rt9(Provided))

Shane and Marc, meanwhile, wj=mnWmDa&z%O2f_*zM!Rq$n^Un%$^mUJU7sTCcl$CQYGSIP9Yyrote on their joint Facebook account that they are more comfortable holding hands on the street than before marriage was legal.

(Photo: Marc and Shin / Facebook)

They also to[email protected]^[email protected]+jmj%efZZyKYTVrt#=+T$ICYk_&*Sjs3$MWDld of a story of encountering three men in Shilin night market.

They expected the men to make a homophobic comment, but instead they told them to be hap#dAY^JnO*vfBu7liKq6MbGd6ugUAHDmTkiLU5vL9f#f^XYzMZ$py.

“We think that maybe this is@yefg%LXrJsLS3fQMZy-^OH%j_fGgSAZO2R#PE0ThUe&=+F!7s the true meaning of marriage” the pair wrote. “Everyone can truly understand the meaning of love”.

Well-known cartoonist, Cynical Chick, who married LiYing Chien in May, also shared a story of posit1^[email protected]%z2biZ8$#gXI3gKxv*&ive acceptance.

((Photo: Cynical Chick aRiD+jZ#)=pVN9AWRfZy)[email protected]_KvEDgx%iiXR3X!&GGd*Pbnd LiYing Chien register their marriage in May / Provided))

She recalled how when she was opening aEf)8jN(4-mp5%vKci^[email protected]&w2pjiKV8hV&RkyvOnm(fnS- joint a bank account with her new wife, the bank clerk asked her if she was in a same-sex marriage.

He said he would go home to tell hi)SVnLgi2$Wsw9^IRQOyXQ8M7AYBRth$p#[email protected]s 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 are very happy and Tps=VMpOEF0=zUv3aC+5tYE#VjO3d0zCxJR078lmh$RkHIw#6Tcherish such happiness."

How did Taiwan legalize same-sex marriage?

Taiwan’s parlia!zrS(j4(ytaO$rADV*[email protected]%tm9wBBO_4Dment became the first in Asia to pass a same-sex marriage bill on 17 May.

The government bill, whichEIZyI(Ra1&rP9kO60AZW!2!VzRp3CF77ZBVYsqmFev_JBsJcGi largely avoids the term ‘marriage’, had been labeled a compromise by LGBTI rights campaigners.

I5C#cMgyVc9gPgpfNV)s&Dmr1KU#@MvjR-bW%WrqKM*vprIPVLsn 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 separate marriage law ratherxLW33#S&4ve09EeR5AyTUw&5RCgQl5bsjT%Em1BuGw-*[email protected] than changing the civil code which would have brought genuine equality.

LGBTI rights campaigners accused conservative and Christian gr%o&BcEGNyh2XpnU#[email protected]#33*wKi!(sjz7xoups of running a well-funded campaign of hate and scare-mongering.

Taiwan’s parliament voted in favor of a government bill o(WEx1v6k&s6JhYQNLl$0+S32n%TP^es=(7S_ALlOlgB5eU769Qffering same-sex couples 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 voting foGLF+3TMW*Ud#[email protected])P!Z#mAizB7go$2opl+sd#-))SeV0Cjir the bill, 66 opposing, and 27 abstaining.

((Photo: One of the couples tdUk++7PAbH#wlf6=ad3vmAwkV+fkS1-xS6Y82y!sAD8vIli*)4o marry on 24 May. / Provided))

Thousands of LGBTI rights supporters gathered outside parliament and cheered as the vote was a9d3&q#[email protected](=m4Gn2pOGW6N%([email protected]=Wsu8WSjyNRCaB*Strnnounced.

In a last-minute effort to appease conservative lawmak1J)[email protected]#p1UkWWi+YCA4I+$!%(&far)ers, 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 co0oiq*U4gkmFWn23L6Fx3CyM3dQu(1_c=eadq+!2fKw*njhV+x=uples. 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 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.