Same-sex marriage in Taiwan

Legal status of
same-sex relationships
Marriage
Performed

Argentina
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Denmark:
· Denmark proper
Finland*
France
Iceland
Luxembourg
Mexico:
· CA, QR,
· DF
Netherlands:
· Netherlands proper1
New Zealand:
· New Zealand proper
Norway

Portugal
South Africa
Slovenia*
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom:
· England and Wales
· Scotland
United States:
· AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT,
· DE, FL, HI, ID, IL, IN,
· IA, KS2, ME, MD, MA,
· MN, MO3, MT, NV, NH,
· NJ, NM, NY, NC, OK,
· OR, PA, RI, SC, UT, VT,
· VA, WA, WV, WI, WY,
· DC, 22 tribes
 Uruguay

Recognized

  1. Can be registered also in Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten
  2. Licensed in some counties in Kansas but same-sex marriage is not recognized by the state
  3. Only licensed in St. Louis (city), St. Louis County, & Jackson County (but only St. Louis (city) is required to).
  4. When performed in Mexican states that have legalized same-sex marriage
  5. Most counties in Alabama issued same-sex marriage licenses for several weeks after a federal court found that state's ban unconstitutional, but all stopped by 4 March 2015 following an order by the state supreme court
  6. Only if married in Michigan when same-sex marriage was legal

*Not yet in effect

LGBT portal

Same-sex marriage in Taiwan has been discussed since 2000s. Taiwan does not have any recognition of same-sex unions.

Background

One of four newly wedded couples at a public wedding at Taiwan Pride 2006.

In August 2012, two women participated in what the media called Taiwan's first same-sex marriage ceremony.[1]

The Ministry of Justice's Department of Legal Affairs commissioned a study on legal recognitions of same-sex unions in Canada, Germany and France in 2012, but after pressure from critics, commissioned a further study for 2013 on the state of same-sex relationships in Asian countries for comparison.[2]

Legislative efforts and party support

In 2003, the executive branch of the Taiwan government (Executive Yuan) proposed legislation granting marriages to same-sex couples under the Human Rights Basic Law; but the bill was rejected and was not passed into law because of the opposition of legislators in 2006.

President Ma Ying-jeou, Chairman of the governing Kuomintang (KMT), respected LGBT rights but said public support was needed before the government could approve the law, thus it has been stalled since.[3]

Su Tseng-chang, Chairman of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has expressed support for same-sex marriage.[4] DPP is spilt over this issue, some legislators support same-sex marriage, while others oppose it.

On 25 October 2013, a petition-initiated bill to revise the Civil Code to allow for same-sex couples to be eligible for marriage was introduced by 23 lawmakers from the DPP in the Legislative Yuan. It was immediately referred to the Yuan's Judicial Committee for review and possible first reading.[5]

On 22 December 2014, a proposed amendment to the Civil Code which would legalize same-sex marriage was due to go under review by the Judiciary Committee. If the amendment passes the committee stage it will then be voted on at the plenary session of the Legislative Yuan in 2015. The amendment, called the marriage equality amendment, would insert neutral terms into the Civil Code replacing ones that imply heterosexual marriage, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage. It would also allow same-sex couples to adopt children. Yu Mei-nu of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who is the convener of the current legislative session, has expressed support for the amendment as have more than 20 other DPP lawmakers as well as two from the Taiwan Solidarity Union and one each from the Kuomintang and the People First Party. [6] Taiwan would become the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage if the Civil Code is amended.

Judicial case

In March 2012, a gay couple Ching-Hsueh Chen (Nelson) 陳敬學 and Chih-Wei Kao (Johnson)高治瑋 applied to Taipei High Administrative Court to have their marriage recognized.[7] The first hearing took place on April 10, 2012. The couple was accompanied by their mothers and received the personal blessings from the judges for their love, although the judges said that wouldn't have any repercussions in their final ruling. The next hearing was set to take place a month later,[8] and the court was due to hand down a decision on December 20.[9] Instead, the court reneged on a ruling, opting to send the case to the Council of Grand Justices in the Judicial Yuan for a constitutional interpretation.[10] The case was then voluntarily withdrawn by the couple due to the hesitancy of the judiciary in taking on the case.

Polls and public support and controversy

A poll of 6,439 Taiwanese adults released in April 2006 by the National Union of Taiwan Women's Association/Constitutional Reform Alliance concluded that 75% believe homosexual relations are acceptable, while 25% thought they were unacceptable.[11]

A poll released in August 2013 shows that 53% of Taiwanese support same-sex marriage, with 37% opposed. Among people aged between 20 and 29, support was at 78%. The main source of opposition was in the Taiwanese Christian community - only 25% of Christians supported same-sex marriage.[12]

Other polls suggest Taiwanese people are far more divided over same-sex marriage legalisation, with a November 2013 poll of 1,377 adults commissioned by cable news channel TVBS indicating the 45% oppose same-sex unions, while only 40% are in favour.[13]

When a religious and conservative coalition opposed to same-sex marriage launched a petition for public support of their position, a staff editorial from the English-language China Post questioned the logic of the opponents' arguments and endorsed the legalization of same-sex marriage as "a huge step forward in the fight for universal equality akin to ending apartheid.[14] " The Taipei Times, similarly, questioned the logic and arguments of the anti-gay opposition.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Two Buddhist brides wed in Taiwan". CNN.com. 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  2. ↑ Christie Chen (2012-12-15). "Ministry to commission further study on same-sex marriages". Focus Taiwan News Channel.
  3. ↑ Taiwan to stage first same-sex buddhist wedding
  4. ↑ Anna Leach (2012-10-31). "A progressive history of gay rights in Taiwan". Gay Star News. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  5. ↑ Dennis Engbarth, Inter Press Service (Oct 31, 2013). "Taiwan lawmakers push marriage equality bill". Asia Times.
  6. ↑ Lii Wen (2014-12-21). "Gay marriage proposal set for review". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
  7. ↑ "Gay Taiwanese couple make bid to be registered as same-sex household in landmark hearing". Pinknews.co.uk. 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  8. ↑ 'Blessed' gay men fight for marriage in court
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ Christie Chen, Huang Yi-han and Alex Jiang (2012-12-20). "Gay man vows not to give up fight for same-sex marriage rights (update)". Focus Taiwan News Channel.
  11. ↑ Taiwan Thinks Adultery Should Remain a Crime, Angus Reid Global Monitor, May 18, 2006
  12. ↑ Over half of Taiwanese support gay marriage: Survey
  13. ↑ Opposing rallies for and against homosexual marriage take to the streets of Taiwan, with parliament split over legislation
  14. ↑ The China Post news staff (September 21, 2013). "Same-sex marriage wouldn't bring about end of the world". The China Post.
  15. ↑ Staff Editorial (Sep 21, 2013). "EDITORIAL: Apocalyptic same-sex claptrap". Taipei Times.