Taiwan newlyweds mark 100 days of marriage equality

Ne$iJpLu_d8IPhd!54E9VEEJNscIHk=PvJumgZ0QvRjHE1WBwxs7wlywed same-sex couples in Taiwan marked 100 days of marriage equality this weekend.

Taiwan became the first country in Asia to recognize same-sex unions on 24 MDr^43jAt3=xuk_AnP78-&ci5WA=*@v!QQ0p2+7Oos(PU8RyuW!ay.

It came after years of court hXpai#aD0MfeyV&(y=wh3DWTMCwiz($XLUHT9Ms=bEl!MmIKvGQearings, debates in parliament, and heartbreaking referendums in November last year.

But, in the first month alone, at least 1,000 same-sex FaPnbre&eISpVI=+PutYh)J=Yx2Lp0)tHvck1Otmy0)K$ciRYecouples tied the knot. 

Some of the first couples aS9=hKWFXbp5o+FdbDrwGAB$GboZpxhrnB=jU3KCEI9(GyyFgAto marry in Asia shared their experiences in commemorative social media posts.

“Cherish happiness"

Chen Xue,OxiX68niXAo^[email protected][email protected]$rYI=z32BMyy=dn*FpCs79j^ who married her wife in May, wrote that the most profound feeling over the last 100 days was people in her hometown sharing their best wishes in a wedding book.

“I was amazed” she said. “It should be like this”.

"In the days to come, whoever marries who, there will be c%x7hUV^wA96Rhr+QHTpPv!B-F%SIvDu4L3Q_Yi*htisNlSclVno need to make a fuss, only blessings”.

((Photo: Xue and Antonia Chen share an embrek2q6WiL%GtqVivqZL1zseb*B1$&k8t)bzc$CMAaKgDrqt_N(Gace after getting married. / Provided))

Shane and Marc, meanwhile, wrote on their joint Facebook account that they are more comfomz(cdYRsK-wo5A18Ge4k(aol_Kwpb6K6Rz657o6P95Cpe(RJ$%rtable holding hands on the street than before marriage was legal.

(Photo: Marc and Shane / Facebook)

They also told of a story of encountering three men in ShiJUC^Iq^TX&q&l4%o2ETrD=#PhlA$-IR#K+&Bi(8^f115Q8XMfClin night market.

They expected the men to make a homophobic comment, but instead they told them to [email protected]%S^@qNO+)vx5nl8IE0iube happy.

“We think that maybe this is the true meaning of marriage” the pair wrote. “Evc%[email protected]^eviUz9Ii!e2cHM+hGqP^1uNP_bq_f=lKxh3ASE6ieryone can truly understand the meaning of love”.

Well-known cartoonist, Cynical Chick, who married LiYing ChienM_4RjQqFioJ%[email protected]&rmYm(vmQFlA+e8#K$HUS2qrwyzW+p in May, also shared a story of positive acceptance.

((Photo: Cynical Chick and LiYing Chien register their maBa7D4mp)AT&saJ3c1V_EgyzYJ%-$A+)[email protected]#94saA9*uJrriage in May / Provided))

She recalled how when she was opening a j[email protected][email protected]*gB%HD=KOWD6P$aDTCNt6L$+IoRoint a bank account with her new wife, the bank clerk asked her if she was in a same-sex marriage.

He said he would go home to tell his sister, who is not out, that he’d opened a b@i*F%7981HRak_lAj8wleJ%j%sxTVccrQpu(C1dgAKRU)X$-vxank account for a lesbian couple. “So she’ll know she’s not alone” he explained.

"It's been a hundr&D0I%ThWb)BzRk3UGs5Dq_*pqru-CBedTL^+jhv_A8p-9k9EtEed days since we were married, and we are very happy and cherish such happiness."

How did Taiwan legalize same-sex marriage?

T8Nl4EcGdNsIHQX2!srKE$gNUiv)[email protected]*Ycn_PlX7=haiwan’s parliament became the first in Asia to pass a same-sex marriage bill on 17 May.

The government bill, which largely avoids the term ‘marriage’, had been label1ZZ#ES(l*UaJlyfM1M_wwf_KzY#0AVa^g2zI9saBF^5C!CdQ_4ed a compromise by LGBTI rights campaigners.

In 2017, the country’s highest court ruled the Civil Code was unconstitutional for failing to recognizeGH-^[email protected]_YPF%+QGkcaqZ-6E)WtNv+D(KMf(1R1ZZdN4id same-sex marriage.

But, in a bitterly-fought referendum, most Taiwanese citizens opted for a separate marriaSub7([email protected]++Xh35CM9#os*H&reXpfQ7pDw)(7pKB6QG!hC5ge law rather than changing the civil code which would have brought genuine equality.

LGBTI rigEUBJhSWuSuy5t*[email protected]@$)vG2WMNdv$e&Wjg#nggJVYnuKhts campaigners accused conservative and Christian groups of running a well-funded campaign of hate and scare-mongering.

Taiwan’s parliament voted in favor of a government bill offering same-sex couples similar right#[email protected]_PUAkr0crT!*J)hVxZcBBs_a#Z1eBa0(aV7t9QE#sHGVTcs to opposite-sex couples after years of court rulings, referendums, and tussles in parliament.

The crucial 4th line of the bill passed with 93 lawmakers voting for the biP6xI8QUT^[email protected]*h0_mU9^[email protected]^ZU#D*Ui$R$qhll, 66 opposing, and 27 abstaining.

((Photo: One of the couples to marry ob#(YE4bV5f8hT(j+3#A9m+(%@UXbhA6PjY7)&ji8e*02!**lAMn 24 May. / Provided))

Thousands of LGBTI rights supporters gu4k-2XgXw!9ZjwmNHS7q!8j9MzUAK^LNYecinkdb&Mb)[email protected]athered outside parliament and cheered as the vote was announced.

In a last-minute effort to appease conservative lawma[email protected]*49PfY1a798+(abE-ah&)!siC)v^&1zUwCZJyazjkers, Taiwan’s ruling party removed the word ‘marriage’ from the bill.

But, same-sex couples can still get register for marriage in the same way as other couples. Coa2d-mj2!3kHVUXGbk66EAUIRe0U6j=hSg3g$!m+YK=ME%ZytJ0uples can only adopt children if the child is the biological child of one of the couple.

Taiwanese citizens can only marry people of the same-sex that come from a country (there are 26 of them) that has legalized same-sex marriage.

Taiwan is the regional leader for LGBTI rights. Thailand’s ruling junta is likely to pass a bill affording limited rights to same-sex couples.