taiwan

Taiwan is poised to become the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage.

An estimated 250,000 people surrounded Taiwan’s Presidential Office in capital city Taipei on Saturday (December 10) in support of equal marriage, Asia Times reports.

Taiwan is poised to become the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage. While the country’s President has been a vocal supporter of equal marriage, the nations push to legalize same-sex unions was galvanised by the death of a gay professor in October, who committed suicide after being excluded from making key healthcare decisions at the end of his partner’s life.

In a statement released on Saturday, President Tsai Ing-wen said, “Same-sex couples also have the right to marriage,” and called for “more discussion but less confrontation” on the issue.

She added: “all voices should be heard and given the chance to seek support in the Legislature.”

Saturday’s rally took the form of a concert, and saw public figures, legislators, activists and LGBT+ people and their allies, coincided with international Human Rights Day.

According to reports, the protests came a week after 70,000 people took to the streets of Taipei to oppose marriage equality.

Taiwan’s same-sex marriage bill passed its first reading in parliament in November, but after vocal backlash, a second reading was postponed. A committee will now review the bill on December 26, at which point it will have to pass second and third readings to become law.

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