A total of 157 same-sex couples plan to register to get married at household registration offices on May 24, the day the Council of Grand Justices set for same-sex marriages to be legalized, the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights said in a recent Facebook post.
To mark the historic day, the LGBTI rights organization also plans to arrange a traditional wedding banquet outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei on May 25.
Writer Chen Hsueh (陳雪) and her partner plan to be among the couples registering to get married that day.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The registration and wedding plans are going ahead, despite uncertainty over how the Legislative Yuan plans to handle competing demands from groups in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage and those opposed to categorizing same-sex unions as marriages.
On May 24, 2017, the Council of Grand Justice ruled that the prohibition of same-sex marriage in the Civil Code was unconstitutional and that within two years, the relevant authorities must amend or enact laws in accordance with Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748.
However, a referendum on whether to support the legalization of same-sex marriage through amendments to the Civil Code was defeated in November last year.
When asked: “Do you agree that the right to marriage of persons of the same sex should be protected by legislation under the chapter on marriage of the Civil Code?” 6,949,697 Taiwanese voted against the initiative, while 3,382,286 voted in favor of it.
Nonetheless, the Legislative Yuan on March 5 voted to send the “enforcement act of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748” to a second reading.
It is the first draft act created using the name of the constitutional interpretation, which would allow same-sex couples to register their marriage or divorce at any household registration office.
To appease those who oppose treating same-sex unions as marriages, the Legislative Yuan on March 15 also voted to send another draft bill, which would limit the use of the words “marriage” and “spouse” to heterosexual couples, to a second reading.
It was drafted in response to the passing of Referendum No. 12, which asked: “Do you agree that the right to persons of the same sex to create a permanent union should be guaranteed by an institution other than marriage as defined by the Civil Code?”
As it is less than one month before May 24, the alliance on Thursday issued a statement saying that the “enforcement act of Referendum No. 12” diverges from the council’s 2017 ruling.
Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan in a news release on Friday urged lawmakers to pass “enforcement act of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748” before May 24, so that same-sex couples can marry legally.
The Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation, a conservative group, on Friday held a news conference, calling on legislators to stick to the results of last year’s referendum and support the “enforcement act of Referendum No. 12.”
Draft acts have to pass second and third readings by the full Legislative Yuan before becoming laws.
It is unclear what would happen if the legislature passes both drafts.
‘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
RSS