A referendum proposal to “protect the family” put forward by the anti-gay-marriage Faith and Hope League, was rejected yesterday by the Cabinet’s Referendum Review Committee on the grounds that it failed to meet requirements.
The committee voted 10-1 against the proposal, which would have asked voters if they agreed that Civil Code “family’ items regarding husband-and-wife relationships, consanguinity and the principles of human relations cannot be amended unless the public agrees via a referendum.
The league has been promoting its referendum proposal as part of its efforts against the legalization of same-sex marriage.
Committee chairman Wang Kao-cheng (王高成) said the proposal was rejected for two reasons: one, that the proposed referendum topic was not a law, a legislative principle, important policy or constitutional amendment and therefore does not meet the requirement of the Referendum Act (公民投票法); and two, the proposal was about revising several provisions of the Civil Code, which does not meet the law’s requirement that a referendum should be about a single issue, he said.
The league can file an administrative appeal of the committee’s decision or introduce a new proposal, Wang said.
The Faith and Hope League was founded in September last year.
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