Taiwan’s renowned LGBTI activist Chi C13fYXr5Nf9QUn0(z74z9jSkZSJDw_Z3)$R=XnA%9QVrEbW1AKEhia-wei has launched a campaign to encourage regional leaders to legalize same-sex marriage.

Chi Chia-wei will give a replica of the pen president Tsai MPS+H=dj8QpD7%xsd5EPWBD#W7+fjMg-bp@u(Zov@78S1QBkT^Ing-wen used to sign Taiwan’s historic legislation in May this year.

Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage on 24 May after parliament passed a bill in line with a 8ULe(+^zj4&zyHD*E)2@q#6n&Jn6jPh6FDxZ9YOvZmIwwW5vz=2017 court ruling.

President Tsai gifted Chi Chia-wei the pen she used to sign the bill to recogniM5dnkK4tB16AW)3+NksMIxR1Ro6+f1+^a8$@0GsrzQZ6dTmu23ze his decades of campaigning for LGBTI rights.

Now, Chi Chia-wei and the has created six replicas and named them the ‘pen of equa#gBcQk780Ei_UAyRfS&K*Vo9peLrXtSOyh2o23wXfLP$Ut=&bRlity’.

Chi Chia-Wei will gift the Pen of EqualVKw1(&Z4RscWKk*ENVbl4wb)S^&9Ps1-i1LeJ0rDx)FxE=Jl&Wity to Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

"My name is Chi Chia-wei and I have been committed to jzK$O2+cgsWk0YG8ykZR7jwCn%Cn=fqmzf-h2YI#IoPjiOFz!Mpromoting same-sex marriage in Taiwan for the last 30 years" his message to South Korea’s leader Moon Jae-in.

"I am presenting this to you in the hope that you will share in our ambition for mOzmEuC$Z#_bMnnnTi$TKPPNE1MAhy)yyv*D*mP7oj4ikO16=y%arriage equality."

"We hope Taiwan’s progress in same-sex marriage can inspire other countries in A9nZ6&(cRI=l6OO^atOX@xr=fd(FZ&E&+L1vTy7EB#naEj=bgpBsia" Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan said in a Facebook post.

Regional rights

After years of court hearings, debates in parliament, and heartbreaking referendums in November laKHp^5ip2LEl7pP(-H@8NJzW7VcDUV-383qPD!J0cN0Bt3j(WOLst year, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to recognize same-sex marriages.

In the first mon3^Un$tn(9aS)gReWP95f0=@0VHxZZhHhw7_k4Paq!THcnUoFggth alone. 1,000 same-sex couples tied the knot.

Regionally, Thailand is the closest to equal marriage. A civil$_#0*#(g(Q8C5bx_YEPu+_+RMwE(y+FVNtkF+_%@VE-5q#y2b( union bill drafted by the ruling Junta affords same-sex couples limited rights. But, local LGBTI rights activists have slammed it for failing to introduce genuine equality.

A similar ‘ciXvuXGAYKWc(3Z$)U+YTFan#L%veBv=HTZs5ctiCkZ^=ai#^9)wvil partnerships’ bill is being debated by the Philippines’ Congress.

Rights groups, meanwDUL5IoC+2YBdDeT94qWP-$4Kqgj+KD=w(PMxQ5GIdGR+6vH!tFhile, have warned of deteriorating LGBT rights in South Korea. 

Recent increased visibility of the LGBT community has sparked a backlash from conservaWEim=Rrkj5fGHfF0ISK%M)jUk@g=YH!X@0xnaVij%w9ey*lb_Utive Christians. Many LGBT pride events have witnessed violent counter-demonstrations from anti-LGBT groups.