Gay rights groups on Friday urged the Executive Yuan to respond to the May constitutional interpretation by the Council of Grand Justices in favor of same-sex marriage and quickly propose a draft bill for its legalization.
Although Premier William Lai (賴清德) has expressed support for same-sex marriage, a bill is nowhere to be seen on his Cabinet’s list of priorities, gay-marriage advocate Jennifer Lu (呂欣潔) said at a news conference at the legislature.
The court had asked the government to work out the details needed to achieve the “equal protection of the freedom of marriage,” Lu said, urging the Executive Yuan to fulfill its responsibility and propose a draft bill in response to the ruling.
She also called on the Legislative Yuan to quickly pass the second and third reading of an amendment to the Civil Code that would legalize same-sex marriage and allow married gay couples to adopt children.
The amendment has been stuck in the legislature after it passed an initial reading late last year.
Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association member Tsao Cheng-hsi (曹承羲) said that gay couples urgently need legal recognition and protection, and Lai should not turn away from them.
Taiwan Gender Queer Rights Advocacy Alliance secretary-general Nelson Hu (胡勝翔) said his partner of 12 years had been diagnosed with a rare form of hemangioma and doctors have said he could die soon.
Even though they have registered their partnership at a household registration office, giving Hu the right to sign medical forms for his partner, they are still excluded from many social welfare benefits reserved for married heterosexual couples, Hu said.
“We don’t have that much time to wait,” he said in a statement.
Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said that the executive would handle the issue within the time allotted by the Grand Justices and would listen to opinions from all sides.
The court asked the authorities to amend or enact laws to legalize same-sex marriage within two years.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus whip Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) said she believes the that Executive Yuan will respect the court’s ruling and push for marriage equality.
Ho said that the issue has yet to be discussed in the DPP caucus meeting, but she respects individual lawmakers’ opinions.
The news conference was held ahead of the one-year anniversary of the death of French lecturer Jacques Picoux, who committed suicide on Oct. 16 last year.
A prominent figure in the gay community, Picoux was reportedly denied the right to make medical decisions for his longtime partner before he died of an illness.
He was later also forced to vacate the apartment he shared with his partner, because their union was not recognized as a marriage.
Picoux’s death reignited calls for the legalization of same-sex marriage in Taiwan.
The groups said they are to host an event to commemorate Picoux on Oct. 16 on Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and