We have legalized same-sex marriage. Here is our story:
Seventeen years ago, the Netherlands made a huge step toward the full recognition of the rights of LGBTI [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people] by allowing them to marry the persons they love, just like anybody else.
Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa and Sweden quickly followed in the footsteps of our Dutch friends, along with Denmark, France, the UK, New Zealand and Luxembourg. Most recently, the US, Germany, Finland and Australia — and soon Austria — joined the list of countries acknowledging that love simply is love.
Did marriage equality raise a lot of discussions in our parliaments, our courts, our societies? Yes, to some extent. Has it threatened social cohesion since then? No, quite the contrary.
By legalizing same-sex marriage, we have seen the financial, psychological and physical well-being of LGBTI people enhanced. Children of same-sex parents can now be raised by couples whose union has been supported by our institutions.
These benefits accrue to society as a whole, which has also become more open and tolerant. As a matter of fact, polls have consistently shown wide support among our citizens for same-sex marriage.
Same-sex couples are not different from opposite-sex ones. They work, pay their taxes, take responsibilities in society and take care of their children, parents and families. They have the same rights as all other citizens, including access to government services and legal protections such as inheritance or hospital visitation rights.
In a way, excluding LGBTI from marriage stigmatizes them and invites public discrimination against them. This is not what our leaders and our citizens wanted.
Today is the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. Today we commemorate the WHO’s decision, 30 years ago, to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.
Today we celebrate all the steps, legal and societal, that have been taken to defend and promote the rights of LGBTI worldwide, and the dedication of courageous activists who have made these changes happen.
As representative offices in Taiwan, we have consistently acknowledged that Taiwan stands at the forefront in Asia and in the world on LGBTI rights.
We have witnessed how Taiwan Pride has become a reference for Prides on this continent and beyond. We have seen grassroots movements and the arts industry working hard to advance equal rights for the LGBTI community.
Most importantly, we have seen the Constitutional Court [Editor’s note: the Council of Grand Justices] issuing a landmark ruling on same-sex marriage just over a year ago, which offers Taiwan a unique opportunity to show the world its commitment to human rights.
If we had to sum up our experience with marriage equality, it would be by answering one simple question: Do we want a society in which our present and next generations are truly happy?
We have realized that the answer is equally simple: Love is love, no matter who the individuals are.
All of us have the same basic needs and should enjoy the same basic rights. This includes the right to get married and live happily ever after.
Endorsed by the Austrian Office Taipei, Belgian Office Taipei, Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, Trade Council of Denmark Taipei, European Economic and Trade Office, Business Finland, French Office in Taipei, Luxembourg Trade and Investment Office in Taipei, Netherlands Trade and Investment Office, Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Business Sweden, and British Office Taipei.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017