Lee Jia-fen, wife of presidential hopeful Han Kuo-yu, on Sunday said same-sex marriage in Taiwan was “being xT%2IELjYCKZDga*(%M9z(%GPmddIk-Xtbc0SVDBS)FS52TKtQexploited”.

She said her husband, who is the Kuomintang (KMT) presidential hopefully, would review laws relating to LGBT issues, according to the Liberty Times.

uI2YyO-cgJ9OQTx!q_dt-@QRoIkFkIcWDIzgH6=HRF&YfAF+55Taiwan in May became the first country in Asia to allow same-sex marriage.

Current president, Tsai Ing-wen, who is up for reelection against Han, signed a bill in May that affords same-sex couples similar rights to heterosexual coupl2gfgnX!B2OEDFy0(4r1WQB&Cj1ZR_P!vsRg=pAlV*S@=g!=R9Ies.

But Lee on Sunday said young mothers complaiZS+tgRUk=RZ)Lafzni%DtVq+rqbN#KnNqt0W7AZ3BhsEN*Y&JWned LGBT education was “very chaotic” following the new law. She said it created problems for their education.

“Those in favor [of same-sex marriage] should also respect heterosexuals” Lee told the audience on Sunday.

Lee also said she had homosexuap3TQS3dKnRfuj-Hc4YkW&!Ri2QKJzL)2ixVV+sslUaW9YE79QAl friends who are “kind and good” but “were being exploited”. She did not mention who was exploiting same-sex marriage and how they were doing so.

First in Asia

After court rulings, referendums, and drama in parliament, Taiwan on 17rBxJvkMXvv6Eh4z$R6CWc#DuNWyEatxW44pLk$3YJAEs3clE#H May finally enacted a bill that allowed same-sex couples to marry.

But, in a bitterly-fought referendum, most Taiwanese citizens opted for a separate marriage law rather than changing the civil code which would y-$4B$QSr(5(^4@Ei#%ZKWHExwzj9Dk9xWv532r&Mw%pZ_srWKhave brought genuine equality.

LGBTI=q7TIYYEbQm&=_mmIHnzV3gS#!FagDo+_SsZ&Qf*xv(*NqgV=p rights campaigners accused conservative and Christian groups of running a well-funded campaign of hate and scare-mongering.

Taiwan voters also voted against Taiwan's Gender Equity Education which educates school children about diverse gyq3bzE4dey13HI93xJ9^U0v^juZVg0Q25w)^s89Dn+zmCgtg3^enders and sexualities. 

But, it does not afford them exactly the same rights as same-sex couple9Jc&o7Qv-Xn*Ocrk3wLW7CTL=ZU#HS5LtOO1V5NI*mErM22)mNs. For example, same-sex couples may only adopt a child if it is the biological child of one of the couple.

The bill also limits transnational marriages. For a foreign national to marry in TaizVITD&1JH+rU$HE$_ysMS3fnn_(SKi6-t!&C_j)^9e4Gyh%CWEwan, same-sex marriage must be legal in their own country.

Taiwan’s parliament approved a bill to legalize H)&0dievdL4UXnb0Wg$0RRtq&jHp&Sfi!uwLKpY(@A8669I4*Zsame-sex marriage on Friday 17 May. It voted in favor of a government bill offering same-sex couples similar rights to opposite-sex couples after years of court rulings, referendums, and tussles in parliament.

The government bill, which largely avoids the term ‘marriage’, has been labelled a compromise by LGBTI rights campaigners. In 2017, the country’s highest court ruled the Civil Code was unconstitutional for failing to recognizrU8$-T37qs-mNmqbFVXWN(LO!((8nmnG*Kn(qOa78F$Z^(c38ye same-sex marriage.

The crucialj=3km0=SkB(PA9*g_xi!hIzPP4981EW+54CB5st3heRpQH$!sC 4th line of the bill passed with 93 lawmakers voting for the bill, 66 opposing, and 27 abstaining.

(Cover Photo: Han Kuo-yu / Facebook)

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