TAIPEI, TAIWAN >> Taiwan’s Constitutional Court has ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, making the island the first place in Asia to recognize gay unions.

The court on Wednesday said the current civil code that does not permit same-sex marriages was a violation of two articles of the constitution of the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name.

It says authorities must either enact or amend relevant laws within two years, failing which same-sex couples could have their marriages recognized by submitting a document.

Both the ruling and major opposition parties support legalization of same-sex marriage, as do a majority of the public and President Tsai Ing-wen.

Gays and lesbians in Taiwan have formed an effective lobby in recent years, with an annual Gay Pride march drawing tens of thousands. </s> TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan's legislature voted today to legalize same-sex marriage, a first in Asia and a boost for LGBT rights activists who had championed the cause for two decades.

Lawmakers pressured by LGBT groups as well as by church organizations opposed to the move approved most of a government-sponsored bill that recognizes same-sex marriages and gives couples many of the tax, insurance and child custody benefits available to male-female married couples.

That makes Taiwan the first place in Asia with a comprehensive law both allowing and laying out the terms of same-sex marriage.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, a supporter of the law, tweeted: "On May 17th, 2019 in Taiwan, LoveWon. We took a big step toward true equality, and made Taiwan a better country."

"It's a breakthrough, I have to say so," said Shiau Hong-chi, professor of gender studies and communications management at Shih-Hsin University in Taiwan.

Thousands of people, including same-sex couples, demonstrated Friday morning in the rainy streets outside parliament before the vote. Many carried rainbow-colored placards reading "The vote cannot fail." About 50 opponents sat under a tent outside parliament and gave speeches favoring marriage between only men and women.

Taiwan's Constitutional Court in May 2017 said the constitution allows same-sex marriages and gave parliament two years to adjust laws accordingly.

The court order mobilized LGBT advocacy groups pushing for fair treatment, as well as opponents among church groups and advocates of traditional Chinese family values that stress the importance of marriage and producing offspring.

Religion, conservative values and political systems that discourage LGBT activism have slowed momentum toward same-sex marriage in many Asian countries from Japan through much of Southeast Asia, although Thailand is exploring the legalization of same-sex civil partnerships. </s> TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage on Wednesday, making the island the first place in Asia to recognize gay unions.

The court said the current civil code that does not permit same-sex marriages was a violation of two articles of the constitution of the Republic of China, Taiwan's official name.

It said that authorities must either enact or amend relevant laws within two years, failing which same-sex couples could have their marriages recognized by submitting a document.

Legislation enforcing the court's ruling is already working its way through the legislature, where both the ruling and major opposition parties support legalization of same-sex marriage. Surveys show a majority of the public is also in favor, as is President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan's first female leader.

Gays and lesbians in Taiwan have formed an effective lobby in recent years, with an annual Gay Pride march drawing tens of thousands. While some conservative religious and social groups have mobilized against same-sex marriage, their influence is much less potent than in the United States and many other parts of the world.

"The need, capability, willingness and longing, in both physical and psychological senses, for creating such permanent unions of intimate and exclusive nature are equally essential to homosexuals and heterosexuals, given the importance of the freedom of marriage to the sound development of personality and safeguarding of human dignity," the court said in its ruling.

Two of the court's 15 justices filed dissenting opinions and one recused himself in the case.

Despite the spread of same-sex marriage in a few regions since 2001, gay and lesbian couples had been allowed to marry in only 22 of the world's nearly 200 countries. In Asia, Taiwan is the first government to legalize such unions, while South Africa is the only country in Africa to allow them. More than 70 countries continue to criminalize homosexual activity.

Globally, the pace of civil rights victories has slowed against the background of a steady stream of reports of anti-gay violence and persecution.

Recent weeks have witnessed large-scale detentions of gay men in Nigeria and Bangladesh, and accounts of roundups and torture of scores of gays in Chechnya. In Indonesia, a major police raid on a gay sauna was followed two days later by the public caning of two gay men. </s> (CNN) Taiwan's top court has cleared the way for the island to become the first place in Asia to grant same-sex couples the right to marry.

The country's Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday that current laws, which say that marriage is between a man and a woman, violate the Constitution.

The panel of judges has given the island's parliament, known as the Legislative Yuan, two years to amend or enact new laws, which could potentially make Taiwan the first place in Asia to allow same-sex marriage.

The island has a large gay community and its annual gay pride parade is the biggest in Asia but the issue of marriage equality has divided Taiwanese society, with thousands turning out in recent months to protest for and against marriage equality

Protesters march against same-sex marriage outside the Parliament in Taipei on November 17, 2016.

"This explanation is a step forward in the history of Taiwan's same-sex marriage," said Yu Mei-nu, a Taiwanese legislator.

Yu said the court's explanation means that even if lawmakers do not pass legislation allowing same-sex marriage in the next two years, gay couples will still be able to marry by this time in 2019.

"I hope that the legislators will have the moral courage to pass same-sex marriage into law, however it is hard to predict how long it will take, at this moment," she said. "The opposition toward gay marriage in Taiwan won't just gladly accept it and give up the debate, so the debate will continue."

Draft legislation is already making its way through Taiwan's Parliament but it has stalled.

"We feel that this is a huge success for the LGBT and marriage equality movement in Taiwan," said Wayne Lin, an activist who runs an LGBT hotline on the island.

"We want to amend the Civil Code so same-sex couples can get married... our target is to complete this whole process within this year."

"In the face of love, everyone is equal," she said in a Facebook video during 2015's gay pride parade.

"I support marriage equality. Every person should be able to look for love freely, and freely seek their own happiness."

The decision came in response to two requests for a Constitutional Court ruling on article 972 of Taiwan's civil code, which states that marriage is between a man and a woman.

One of the requests was filed in 2015 by Chi Chia-wei, a veteran gay rights activist who has spent more than half his life fighting for marriage equality in Taiwan, according to the island's official Central News Agency (CNA).

The other request was filed by the Taipei city government the same year after three same-sex couples lodged an administrative lawsuit against the government when their marriage registrations were rejected, CNA reported.

Japan does not recognize same-sex marriage, although a handful of cities and wards have legalized same-sex partnerships. However, LGBT people are not protected from discrimination under Japanese law.

Homosexuality is not illegal in China and the Communist government removed it from the official list of mental disorders 16 years ago, but activists and experts say that prejudice and discrimination persist.

No Asian nations are on the 23-strong list of countries that have legalized same-sex marriage, according to Pew Research , although it was permitted in New Zealand in 2013. </s> More than 360 same-sex couples tied the knot in emotional scenes in Taiwan on Friday, the first legal marriages in Asia hailed by activists as a social revolution for the region.

The government data was released after Taiwan's parliament passed a bill last week that endorsed same-sex marriage, although the measure could complicate President Tsai Ing-wen's bid for re-election next year.

Twenty couples queued at a marriage registration office Friday in downtown Taipei, where rainbow flags were on display alongside stacks of government-issued, rainbow-themed registration forms.

"I feel very lucky that I can say this out loud to everyone: I am gay and I am getting married," said Shane Lin, a 31-year-old baker who with his partner were the first couple to register in the Taipei office.

"I am extremely proud of my country Taiwan," said a tearful Lin.

The euphoria and emotion within the island's gay community was on display as just-wed couples walked down a rainbow-coloured carpet in a nearby park, watched by families and friends as well as diplomats and reporters.

Chi Chia-wei, an activist who brought a case to Taiwan's constitutional court that led to a landmark court ruling on same-sex marriage in 2017, congratulated the couples.

"This is the right that we deserved from a long time ago," he said, draped in a giant rainbow flag that symbolizes the colours of the international gay movement.

"As a beacon in Asia, I hope Taiwan's democracy and human rights could have a ripple effect on other countries in Asia."

Supporters also celebrated on social media, sharing posts with rainbow colours.

Friday's celebration followed a years-long tussle over marriage equality that culminated in the 2017 declaration by the constitutional court giving same-sex couples the right to marry, and setting a deadline of May 24 for legislation.

Marriage equality was backed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but the measure could complicate President Tsai's bid for a second term in elections next year.

Conservative groups that oppose same-sex marriage said the legislation disrespected the people's will.

America's de facto embassy in Taiwan called the island's quest for equality "an inspiring journey and an example for the entire world."

"Only in a democracy such as Taiwan's can human rights and civil rights be protected and nurtured," the American Institute in Taiwan wrote on its Facebook page.

Same-sex marriage is not recognized by Hong Kong and neighbouring China, which regards Taiwan as a wayward province to be returned to the fold by force, if necessary.

It marks another milestone in Taiwan's development as one of the region's more liberal societies, in contrast with China's strongly autocratic government.

Across the strait, many Chinese congratulated Taiwan's newlywed same-sex couples on platforms such as Weibo, China's version of Twitter.

"For once I thought the legalization of same-sex marriage in Taiwan would impact on the Chinese government, making them heed our appeals," one Weibo user said.

"But then I found the shock actually makes the government more scared, stepping up their crackdown on us." </s> Taiwan’s legislature voted Friday to legalize same-sex marriage, a first in Asia and a boost for LGBT rights activists who had championed the cause for two decades.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s legislature voted Friday to legalize same-sex marriage, a first in Asia and a boost for LGBT rights activists who had championed the cause for two decades.

Lawmakers pressured by LGBT groups as well as by church organizations opposed to the move approved most of a government-sponsored bill that recognizes same-sex marriages and gives couples many of the tax, insurance and child custody benefits available to male-female married couples.

That makes Taiwan the first place in Asia with a comprehensive law both allowing and laying out the terms of same-sex marriage.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, a supporter of the law, tweeted: “On May 17th, 2019 in Taiwan, LoveWon. We took a big step toward true equality, and made Taiwan a better country.”

“It’s a breakthrough, I have to say so,” said Shiau Hong-chi, professor of gender studies and communications management at Shih-Hsin University in Taiwan.

Thousands of people, including same-sex couples, demonstrated Friday morning in the rainy streets outside parliament before the vote. Many carried rainbow-colored placards reading “The vote cannot fail.” About 50 opponents sat under a tent outside parliament and gave speeches favoring marriage between only men and women.

Taiwan’s Constitutional Court in May 2017 said the constitution allows same-sex marriages and gave parliament two years to adjust laws accordingly.

The court order mobilized LGBT advocacy groups pushing for fair treatment, as well as opponents among church groups and advocates of traditional Chinese family values that stress the importance of marriage and producing offspring.

Religion, conservative values and political systems that discourage LGBT activism have slowed momentum toward same-sex marriage in many Asian countries from Japan through much of Southeast Asia, although Thailand is exploring the legalization of same-sex civil partnerships.

“This will help spark a debate in Thailand, and hopefully will help Thailand move faster on our own partnership bill,” said Wattana Keiangpa of the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said Taiwan’s action should “sound a clarion call, kicking off a larger movement across Asia to ensure equality for LGBT people and pro-active protection of their rights by governments throughout the region. No more excuses!”

Taiwan’s acceptance of gay and lesbian relationships began in the 1990s when leaders in today’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party championed the cause to help Taiwan stand out in Asia as an open society.

Although claimed by China as its own territory, Taiwan is a self-governing democracy with a vibrant civil society dedicated to promoting rights for sexual and ethnic minorities, women, the handicapped and others.

Mainland China, ruled by the authoritarian Communist Party, remains much more conservative and officials have repeatedly discouraged even the discussion of legalizing same-sex marriage.

Despite that, news of Taiwan’s new law was a major trending topic on social media in China, with more than 100 million views on the Twitter-like microblogging site Weibo.

Opponents in Taiwan raised fears of incest, insurance scams and children confused by having two mothers or two fathers. Both sides of the issue have held colorful street demonstrations and lobbied lawmakers.

“This is going to cause a lot of morality problems,” said Lin Shih-min with the Taiwan political action group Stability of Power, which opposed the law. “From the point of view of the children, they have the right to grow up with both a mother and a father.”

In November 2018, a majority of Taiwan voters rejected same-sex marriage in an advisory referendum. However, legislators favoring the bill, and voting separately on each item largely along party lines, said it followed the law as well as the spirit of the referendum.

“We need to take responsibility for the referendum last year and we need to take responsibility for people who have suffered from incomplete laws or faced discrimination,” ruling party legislator Hsiao Bi-khim said during the three-hour parliament session.

At least 20 same-sex couples are planning a mass marriage registration in Taipei on May 24, a spokesman for the advocacy group Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan said. The newlyweds and hundreds of invitees will hold a mass party a day later on a blocked-off boulevard outside the presidential office, the event organizer said.

The law will give a boost to Jay Lin and his partner, who hope to marry and assume joint custody of their two 2-year-old sons. They plan to register after May 24.

“A lot of gay parents are excited about that already,” said Lin, a Taipei-based online streaming service founder.

“I think once more people are married and more families are more comfortable being out in public, that will naturally have a beneficial impact on society and on people’s minds,” Lin said. </s> TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage on Friday, as thousands of demonstrators outside parliament cheered and waved rainbow flags, despite deep divisions over marriage equality.

Lawmakers of the majority Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) backed the bill, which passed 66 to 27, although the measure could complicate President Tsai Ing-wen’s bid to win a second term in presidential elections next year.

Demonstrators braved heavy rain outside parliament in Taipei, the capital, with some embracing tearfully as others hailed the vote with chants of “Asia’s first,” and “Way to go, Taiwan!”

The bill, which offers same-sex couples similar legal protections for marriage as heterosexuals, takes effect on May 24 after Tsai signs it into law.

“Today is a proud day for Taiwan. We demonstrate the value of kindness and inclusiveness from this land to the world,” Tsai told reporters after the measure passed.

“Through legalization, (we) ensure that everyone’s love is equal and everyone is treated equally,” added Tsai, who campaigned on a promise of marriage equality in the 2016 presidential election.

The law, however, allows same-sex marriages only between Taiwanese, or with foreigners whose countries recognize same-sex marriage. It permits adoption of children biologically related to at least one of the same-sex pair.

The vote followed a years-long tussle over marriage equality that culminated in a 2017 declaration by the democratic island’s constitutional court giving same-sex couples the right to marry, and setting a deadline of May 24 for legislation.

The reflection of a rainbow flag is seen in the glasses of a supporter at a rally during a parliament vote on three draft bills of a same-sex marriage law, outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan May 17, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

Taipei’s colorful gay pride parade, one of Asia’s largest, puts on display every year the vibrancy of the island’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

“After 30 years of fighting, homosexuals can finally get married,” said 32-year-old musician Ken Chen, who was outside parliament watching the vote broadcast live. “Many of us were in tears.”

CHALLENGE FOR TSAI

Rights group Amnesty International welcomed the end of a “long and arduous campaign”.

“We hope this landmark vote will generate waves across Asia and offer a much-needed boost in the struggle for equality for LGBTI people in the region,” said Annie Huang, acting director of Amnesty International Taiwan.

However, Friday’s measure could prove a hurdle for Tsai’s effort to seek a second term in a January election, after a DPP poll defeat last year was blamed partly on criticism of her reform agenda, including marriage equality.

Late last year, Taiwan voters opposed same-sex marriage in a series of referendums, defining marriage as being between a man and a woman in civil law, though seeking a special law for same-sex unions.

Slideshow (22 Images)

Conservative groups that oppose same-sex marriage said the legislation disrespected the people’s will.

“The will of some seven million people in the referendum has been trampled,” one group, the Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation said in a statement. “The massive public will strike back in 2020.”

Australia passed laws allowing same-sex marriage in 2017, but such unions are not recognized by Hong Kong and neighboring China, which regards Taiwan as a wayward province to be returned to the fold by force, if necessary. </s> It’s official. Taiwan is now the first place in Asia to perform and legally recognize same-sex marriages. The first such marriages were registered Friday, less than a week after May 17, when the self-ruling island’s legislative body overwhelmingly passed a special bill enabling them. The bill includes a prescription that all the rights and duties Taiwan’s civil code grants to married couples will apply to married same-sex couples. This is a historic victory for the LGBT community in Taiwan.

The path to this new law was not easy — and reveals Taiwanese society’s mixed attitude toward LGBT rights. Here’s what you need to know to understand how these marriages were won and what it means for LGBT rights in Asia.

Members of Taiwan’s parliament began introducing these bills in 2003 — but strong opposition from other legislators and much civil society meant those went nowhere. But in 2013, LGBT advocates had launched a lawsuit for equal marriage rights, advised in part by Evan Wolfson, who led much of the marriage equality fight in the United States.

And so, two years ago, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage violated rights for equality and freedom of marriage under its constitution. The court instructed the legislature to amend the existing marriage law within two years.

In response, an anti-gay marriage group backed a 2018 referendum in which voters approved a measure defining marriage as specifically between a man and a woman, and banning revision of the existing marriage code. But the Taiwanese parliament rejected the referendum’s result as unconstitutional, and passed a special law allowing same-sex “exclusive permanent unions” that can be registered as marriages — without amending the civil code’s marriage law.

Taiwan’s back-and-forth between legislature, court and voters is far from unusual on LGBT rights around the world. In some countries, marriage reform comes with or because of huge generational shifts in public opinion. That’s what happened in Ireland, where in a 2015 referendum, 62 percent of voters voted in favor of legal same-sex marriage. Similarly, in Australia’s nonbinding 2017 referendum, 61.6 percent of voters supported same-sex marriage; within two months, parliament passed a same-sex marriage law.

Elsewhere, courts have implemented same-sex marriage, often despite legislatures and public opinion. That’s what happened in Bermuda, a British overseas territory with local autonomy. Voters rejected both same-sex marriage and an alternative form of recognition, civil unions, in a 2016 referendum. In 2017 the Supreme Court ruled that under the Human Rights Act’s guarantee of nondiscrimination, same-sex marriage must be legal — but within seven months, after about half a dozen couples had wed, the government rolled back that law, replacing marriages with domestic partnerships instead. After another lawsuit, the Bermuda Supreme Court ruled the new law unconstitutional in 2018. Same-sex marriages are again being performed — but the government is appealing.

Given how rapidly opinion has shifted in favor of LGBT rights in general and same-sex marriage in particular in most developed countries, Bermuda’s courts are likely to prevail. Generally, the more LGBT people and gay rights causes are publicly discussed, the more accepted they are socially — and the more successful at winning equal rights.

Will there be ripple effects in Asia?

As a result, Taiwan’s new law is likely to influence communities beyond the island — perhaps by motivating activists in other countries in the region to push for similar legislation. Researchers find that pro-LGBT legislation and case law has strong spillover effects in neighboring jurisdictions, helping to motivate activists and influence public opinion and policymakers.

We can already see that in Asia. Hong Kong’s LGBT community is calling on its government to follow Taiwan. Legislators don’t appear likely to take up the issue, but judges might. In September 2018, after Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal ruled that other countries’ same-sex partnerships must be legally recognized, the Hong Kong government began granting dependent visas to same-sex spouses. Advocates might argue for same-sex marriage rights by appealing to Hong Kong’s Basic Law and Bill of Rights, which guarantees the right to equality. Elsewhere, constitutional provisions of equality and privacy, which many countries guarantee, can be used to argue for legal changes.

Yet gay sex remains illegal in many Asian countries

And yet LGBT rights remain severely limited in Asia, where many countries still criminalize same-sex sexual intimacy. As we show in our book, the British Empire often imposed those laws on its colonies. For example, Bangladesh, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Singapore all currently have such laws under the same section number, 377, imposed as part of a colonial-era penal code.

[Not all Christian leaders in Africa oppose LGBT inclusion]

Brunei, a British colony until 1984, recently introduced even stricter laws, based on sharia, making gay sex punishable by stoning to death. The international backlash was considerable; celebrities like George Clooney and Elton John called for a boycott of the sultan of Brunei’s hotels. The sultan was apparently disturbed enough by the reaction that he publicly stated the death penalty would not be enforced.

Courts might undo some of this criminalization. At least, that’s what happened in India. After a long legal battle including several rulings with contradictory effects, India’s Supreme Court ruled Section 377 unconstitutional last September. While Singapore has repealed some of its criminal laws on homosexuality, its government has tried to appease conservative social groups by retaining Section 377A, which criminalizes “gross indecency”, while stating that the government will not enforce it. Activists are now challenging that stance in court.

While Taiwan has taken a significant step, it may be a long time before the rest of Asia catches up.

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Enze Han is an associate professor at the department of politics and public administration, the University of Hong Kong.

Joseph O’Mahoney is a lecturer in politics and international relations at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.

Together they are the authors of “British Colonialism and the Criminalization of Homosexuality: Queens, Crime and Empire” (Routledge, 2018). </s> Tens of thousands of celebrators gathered outside Taiwan’s parliament on May 17, waving rainbow flags as the island’s government became the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. The move comes at a moment of change for LGBTQ rights in Asia: even as nations like India–whose Supreme Court decriminalized homosexuality in 2018–have expanded rights, others including Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei have cracked down. Advocates in the region now hope Taiwan’s example can help tip the scales toward inclusion.

While strongly supported by President Tsai Ing-wen, marriage equality provoked strong opposition from conservative and religious groups in Taiwan. Conservative lawmakers had tabled two rival bills proposing same-sex unions, but the government’s own legislation–the bill that passed–includes the word marriage and grants same-sex couples many of the same rights as heterosexual couples. About 200 same-sex couples were reportedly planning a mass marriage registration in Taipei on May 24, the day the law comes into effect.

Human-rights group Amnesty International has said the law “falls short of genuine and full marriage equality,” as it does not provide equal adoption rights. The law also does not recognize marriages to foreigners whose countries do not permit same-sex marriage. Despite such limitations, the legislation gained the backing of LGBTQ groups, which saw it as the best option available for equality.

Chinese state media tweeted a congratulatory message in support of the law on May 18, but Taiwan’s lawmakers rebuked the praise, seeing it as an attempt by Beijing to take credit for the new law while diminishing their autonomy. (The mainland views Taiwan, an island of 23 million people that lies 112 miles off the coast, as its sovereign territory.) The social scuffle came amid a wave of censorship of LGBTQ subjects on social media in China, where homosexuality is legal but same-sex marriages are not. Leaders weren’t the only ones talking about the news: posts about Taiwan’s law trended on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo, attracting over 100 million views.

This appears in the June 03, 2019 issue of TIME.
Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Taiwan, making Taiwan the first nation in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage.