Tag: Taiwan

Image via Facebook @板中學生會Taiwanese students are going viral for making an LGBTQ-inclusive statement. The Asian country became the first in the continent to legalize gay marriage. And while several same-sex couples are jumping the broom, other LGBTQ advocates are jumping on the bandwagon of another issue. Gender identity and expression. Technically, the rise in conversations about gender identity and expression started at the top of the month. While most citizens waited to see...

Taiwan is the first nation in Asia with marriage equality.The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest LGBT rights advocate, congratulated marriage advocates in Taiwan."We congratulate the Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan and all the advocates who worked tirelessly to bring same-sex marriage to Taiwan," Jean Freedberg, HRC director of global partnerships, said in a statement. "At a time when LGBTQ people's lives are threatened around the globe just because of who they are or who they love, this victory is a...

Kenya’s High Court just upheld the country’s antigay laws punishing “carnal knowledge” and “gross indecency” with five to 14 years in prison. The disappointing news comes just as same-sex marriages began in Taiwan and Brazil’s high court issued a ruling declaring queerphobia unconstitutional. Kenya’s three-judge hight court upheld Sections 162 (a) and (c), 163 and 165 of the country’s penal code, ruling that petitioners failed to provide “credible evidence” the law infringed on their rights, according to Quartz.com. The laws are holdovers...

Passage makes Taiwan the first nation in Asia with same-sex marriage.Roughly two years ago, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry and gave parliament two years to amend or enact new marriage laws.The legislation goes into effect on May 24.Conservatives campaigned against passage. Last year, a majority (67%) of voters rejected same-sex marriage.Lawmakers considered three bills. Two favored by conservatives would extend civil unions to same-sex couples, rather than marriage.While lawmakers approved a bill that...

A May 24, 2017 ruling by Taiwan’s Supreme Court declared the country Civil Code’s definition of marriage — between a man and a woman — as unconstitutional because it failed to protect all human rights. The Court gave Taiwanese legislators two years to legalize it, but Prime Minister Tsai Ing-wen (who ran on an equality platform) and other legislators were too timid to take action. Their inaction allowed anti-gay religious petitioners to turn the issue into a non-binding November 24 ballot...

We love allies A day after Taiwan’s parliament voted to legalize same-sex marriage, two gay couples and one straight couple held a joint wedding on Saturday (18 May). The social media stars organized the ceremony in support of same-sex marriage and promote gender equality. Leading LGBTI activists, including veteran LGBT rights activist Chi Chia-wei and coordinator of Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan Jennifer Lu attended. Taiwan’s parliament on Friday (17 May) became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. The president is expected...

A 2017 court ruling means same-sex marriages will automatically become legal on 24 May At least 157 couples in Taiwan plan to wed on the first day same-sex marriage will be legal in Taiwan next month, according to a local rights organization. Same-sex marriage will automatically become legal in Taiwan on 24 May according to a Constitutional Court ruling in 2017. But, parliament plans to pass a bill to legislate the ruling ahead of the deadline. The government said last week it would...

Same-sex couples can now book their marriage registration in Taipei, Taiwan, the city announced on Tuesday (April 23). According to a press statement by the city’s Department of Civil Affairs, the government has decided to take in-person and phone bookings for marriage registration ahead of same-sex marriage being legalised on May 24. Excluding same-sex marriage is unconstitutional In mid-2017, Taiwan’s constitutional court decided that the articles in the Civil Code which prohibited same-sex couples from marrying were unconstitutional. The court asked authorities to...

‘Age is just a number’ say 75-year-old Andrew Goodier and 24-year-old Ethan Chao Shou-Chuan A Taiwanese and British gay couple held a wedding party in Taiwan on Saturday (16 February). Andrew Goodier and Ethan Chao Shou-Chuan celebrated their relationship with 40 family and friends at a traditional banquet in Miaoli on the country’s west coast. Their age difference of 51 years made headlines in the country. After a famous Taiwan writer shared the couple’s story online, more than 500 well-wishers also arrived at...

Taiwan’s race towards same-sex marriage has just reached a major obstacle. We’ve kept you updated on the entire situation surrounding Taiwan and its legal battles towards marriage equality. Despite the country’s highest court stating that the Civil Code’s definition of marriage, being between a man and a woman, was unconstitutional, religious groups are fighting to keep the definition that way. After making that historic ruling in 2017, Taiwan’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan, was tasked with creating a new law that would...

Late last year, Bermuda became the first country to take away gay marriage after only just legalizing it in the country. That has now set a terrible precedent where a country has taken back the right for same-sex couples to get married. Now, it seems that Taiwan is in a battle of its own to maintain its gay marriage rights. Several religious groups have banned together to start an appeal of the court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the country. Taiwan...

One of the country's leading lawmakers said they were working hard to make the marriage equality legislation a reality Taiwan’s Premier said he was hopeful recognize same-sex marriage would be legal by the end of 2017. In May, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled that its Constitution discriminated against same-sex couples where it reads marriage should only be between a man and a woman. It gave the Legislative Yuan two years to make the necessary changes to the law to recognize marriage equality. But...

'The opposition doesn't give up, they just try to find a different way to influence society.' It has been two months since the historic court decision which paved the way for same-sex marriage in Taiwan. But the government has not yet acted to change the law. In May the Constitutional Court ruled Taiwan’s Constitution was discriminatory against same-sex couples. It currently reads that marriage is between a man and a woman. The court gave Taiwanese lawmakers two years to amend legislation, but...

The city government decided to offer the leave until Taiwan's marriage equality laws were implemented Taipei City will become the first city in Taiwan to offer paternity and maternity leave for same-sex parents Even though Taiwan recently bacme the first country in Asia to approve same-sex marriage it could take up to two years for the legislation to clear parliament. The city’s mayor, Ko Wen-je said the lag in updating the marriage equality laws meant same-sex couples are still not eligible for...