In a first for Asia, Taiwan moves to legalize same-sex marriage

 

 The island's highest court had just struck down Taiwan's anti–gay marriage laws as unconstitutional, paving the way for the first system of legalized same-sex marriage anywhere in Asia. “Disallowing two persons of the same sex to marry, for the sake of safeguarding basic ethical orders” has no “rational basis,” the court wrote Wednesday, adding that “sexual orientation is an immutable characteristic that is resistant to change.”

The court, formally known as the Council of Grand Justices, has given Taiwan’s parliament two years to either amend its current law or pass new legislation to legalize 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. 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.
After the Supreme Court rules in favor, same-sex-marriage is on its way to being legalized in Taiwan, the first country in Asia to do so.