A proposed amendment to the Civil Code that would legalize same-sex marriage is to go under review at the legislature tomorrow.
Following months of anticipation and heated discussions among groups for and against gay marriage, the amendment is set to go under scrutiny by the Judiciary Committee tomorrow morning.
The changes will be voted on at the plenary session next year, if it successfully makes it pass the committee stage.
The amendment, dubbed the marriage equality amendment, would replace terms that imply heterosexual married couples with neutral terms in the Civil Code, effectively allowing for same-sex marriage.
If passed, the phrase “between a man and a woman” used in articles concerning marriage would be changed to “between both parties,” while clauses that refer to “husband and wife” concerning legal regulations on property ownership will be revised to say “couple.”
The amendment would also allow for same-sex couples to adopt children.
Led by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) and Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), the amendment has garnered support from more than 20 DPP lawmakers, as well as two legislators from the Taiwan Solidarity Union and one each from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party.
Yu, who is the committee’s convener for the current legislative session, has expressed support for same-sex marriage.
In response to KMT Legislator Liao Cheng-ching’s (廖正井) remarks earlier this year when he said “local folks back home” would never accept something that went “against humanity” such as gay marriage, marriage equality advocates retaliated by launching a petition that condemned Liao’s remarks as discriminatory, collecting more than 2,000 signatures within one day in his constituency.
Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights (TAPCPR) director Victoria Hsu (許秀雯) accused the Ministry of Justice of failing to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, saying that Minister of Justice Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪) should step down for “gross negligence” of her duties.
“Regardless of political affiliation, the protection of human rights is a national policy. Even if the Ministry of Justice has failed to come up with an amendment themselves, they should still stand up for gay rights on Monday [tomorrow] at the legislature,” TAPCPR secretary-general Chien Chih-chieh (簡至潔) said.
Legislation to legalize same-sex marriage has failed on numerous occasions. A proposed amendment failed to make it past the committee stage last year amid opposition from Christian groups.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
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Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
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