Legislative Yuan caucus representatives yesterday declined to provide guarantees of a final, general-assembly vote on rules allowing same-sex “marriage,” advocacy groups said yesterday, as related bills proposed by lawmakers across party lines head to the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee for an initial review.
Representatives of the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association, Taiwan LGBT Family Rights Advocacy Association, Pridewatch Taiwan and the Awakening Foundation met separately with representatives of each of the legislature’s four caucuses.
While the New Power Party and the People First Party both pledged support, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus representatives were sympathetic, but noncommittal, Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association research associate Lu Hsin-chieh (呂欣潔) said, adding that meetings with homosexual advocates were delegated to DPP Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) and KMT Legislator Jason Hsu (許毓仁), who have both sponsored legalization bills.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“Lin said the reality was that there are some legislators who are worried about pressure from their districts,” Lu said, adding that Hsu had said the KMT caucus had decided to designate legalization as an “open” issue, allowing lawmakers to vote their conscience.
Noticeably absent was any commitment from either party’s leadership to push for or allow a floor vote amid claims that a majority of legislators have expressed support for some form of legalization.
According to a Pridewatch count, 57 of the nation’s 113 legislators have issued public statements supporting legalization, while 41 have signed one of three bills.
Thirteen legislators are opposed, including DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) and KMT caucus whip Sufin Siluko (廖國棟), it said.
Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association secretary-general Peng Chih-liu (彭治鏐) said receiving a final general assembly floor vote was likely the greatest obstacle facing legislation.
“The Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee should not be a problem,” he said, adding that DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) , who co-sponsered one of the proposed amendements, serves as committee coconvener, practically guaranteeing hearings and a vote.
Nine out the committee’s 12 members have expressed support for legalization, Pridewatch said.
The groups expressed support for Yu’s proposal, saying that they had been consulted extensively on draft language, which would expand the Civil Code’s definition of marriage to guarantee equal rights for same-sex couples.
“We feel this will achieve full equality, while minimizing the shock to the full body of law,” Awakening Foundation secretary-general Lin Shih-fang (林實芳) said, contrasting Yu’s bill with the NPP’s proposal to delete every reference to “a man and a woman” in the law in favor of “both sides.”
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is