On June 26, the US Supreme Court made two major rulings about same-sex marriage.
In the first case, the court ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a violation of the US Constitution because married homosexual couples are entitled to the same federal benefits as married heterosexual couples, including tax, health and retirement benefits.
In the second case, the court ruled that Proposition 8, a voter initiative in California that prohibits gay marriage in the state, was unconstitutional and that supporters of the ban lack the standing to challenge the US District Court’s judgment.
The two landmark rulings are a significant victory for the gay community and US President Barack Obama hailed them immediately, saying that the court “has righted a wrong, and our country is better off for it.”
But looking at gay rights in Taiwan, there is still a long road ahead. On the surface, the annual gay pride parades in big cities in recent years have created the image of a gay-friendly country, yet politicians’ support for gay rights is nothing but empty talk.
In 2003, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) pledged to push for a law to allow gays and lesbians to have families and adopt children, but his administration took no action. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also pledged to promote gay rights, but his administration has also failed to deliver.
When Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) proposed a draft same-sex marriage law (同性婚姻法) in 2006, the bill was blocked by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) and other lawmakers. Lai is a close aide of Ma’s. Is the president saying one thing and doing another with regard to gay rights?
In contrast, Obama has contributed greatly to the gay rights movement. In 2011, he stopped defending the 1996 DOMA, concluding that it was “legally indefensible.” Even before the Supreme Court’s recent rulings, Obama expressed his support for gay marriage, becoming the first US president to do so.
“This was discrimination enshrined in law,” Obama said. “We are a people who declared that we are all created equal — and the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.”
Ma should take a lesson from his US counterpart. As gay marriage has been increasingly advocated by Obama and many celebrities, there has been a broad shift in public attitudes in the US. Today, most polls show that a majority of Americans support gay marriage. According to an ABC News-Washington Post poll conducted last month, about 55 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage, while about 40 percent did not.
In Taiwan, TVBS conducted a poll in April last year and found that 49 percent of Taiwanese support gay marriage and 29 percent do not. Among the respondents, 63 percent of people in their 20s, 52 percent of those in their 30s and 48 percent of those in their 40s supported gay marriage. The figures show gay marriage is now generally accepted by young and middle-aged Taiwanese.
To promote equal rights, the Taiwan Domestic Partner Task Force (台灣伴侶權益推動聯盟) is pushing to amend Part IV: Family and Part V: Succession of the Civil Code (民法親屬編, 繼承編) when the new legislative session begins in September.
Gay rights are human rights! Homosexuals pay taxes, perform military service, and fulfill all their social obligations, just like everybody else. They certainly deserve equal treatment.
Hopefully, the public and all political parties will be inspired by the US rulings, and will support the amendments to realize true equality in Taiwan.
Chang Sheng-en is an assistant professor of English at Shih Hsin University.
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
RSS