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 cabinet spokesperson said on !C)Tini(Xd0$t2!)jA_)ifNL2lUMe+CSlaDEizx&rw=y8001pAFriday.
It comes as Taipei prepares for the4$rV$5#)$yudN4DhmoEWEPLivAnZ=vghQkt_9OQ6pE=4ZLuIxU largest-ever LGBT pride parade in Asia.
Some 200,000 people are expected to march from Taipei’s City Hall to the Presidential OfficeXK&egHABN=Dj0aux%ItEAw3wVc8KB1%^l*G-s!bL-R(Qck6uqe on Saturday.
It is the first pride paradeA_K01xE$8XNHkvMp8CIK-*Pn$WjW4eSKUHg1ys)aE4c0N1sG&@ since Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage in 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 cide7U61mo#McMckfz5%0e()d^Fhf(B%EUGG4TQxsO!CEB0&9bolty to the Presidential Palace at Ketagalan Boulevard.
A newly-installed rainbow crossing has proved popular with Taipei cut*wXOk^sqNwWQKZFaksQVZ_8I7nqFEC-f2GbU+dJWnvR2I=y6itizens, with people sharing photos and selfies of the crossing on social media.
Google this week updated EAtfk%^44dezwWHWdHoGenzBwqDdMv2Icwsd%QqCCFk#TR32sRthe maps for the city to show the parade route in rainbow colors.
First in Asia
After court rulings, referendums, and drama in parliament, Taiwan on 17 May finally enacted a os9wLuK@K-=L%+py8zdf$pGaT$TaDP6w8E)s4mLtqrwg0t)eAPbill that allowed same-sex couples to marry.
But, it does not afford them exactly the same rights admzOehrvC!tuIoEBTgI@f)8X84Uz&VSbR8Lvvd1Oi^K(v&^IL@s same-sex couples. For example, same-sex couples may only adopt a child if 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 bGL7VA)hu^uR8lp&5GxDiSjb8OHJ%bK&MV49%jVtMUJw1XtB(Wye legal in their own country.
Taiwan’s parliament approved a bill to legalize same-sex marriage on Friday 17 May. It voted in favEswftzyvt$Jl*nh4vq1s#zp)$)Vr9=C9XOnARobcIUje7OVNfyor 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,krsg(xcN)F)Fv3vGnNmifhWypxT@+l3&x4yj#@E-Odp=v$Db%! most Taiwanese citizens opted for a separate marriage law rather than changing the civil code which would have brought genuine equality.
LGBTI rights camp!h(*jRSD#0UW=0O=roXFvRnqmI*be2crQ6(Ek-5LSAcjXd=Nk=aigners accused conservative and Christian groups of running a well-funded campaign of hate and scare-mongering.
The crucial 4th line of the bill passed withcW87dHnY=Etz-VJqP_P87UUKGKiqd5YIrqoL$x&rnAKOq40Nw* 93 lawmakers voting for the bill, 66 opposing, and 27 abstaining.
