Taipei legalises gay marriage

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled in favour of same-sex marriage yesterday, making the island the first place in Asia to recognise 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 recognised 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 legalisation of same-sex marriage.

Surveys show a majority of the public is also in favour, 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 mobilised against samesex 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.

Hundreds of gay marriage supporters who had gathered outside parliament in central Taipei erupted at the news, with some breaking down in tears.

Activists addressing the crowd said they must now fight to ensure the government implements the ruling.

“I hope the law can pass by the end of the year,” said Bubu Chen, who had an unofficial marriage ceremony with his partner in 2013.

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 legalise such unions. More than 70 countries continue to criminalise 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.