Lee Jia-fen, wife of presidentiall5PV*tr+tzNd)yq2@FPdnr5n+YUTr!!Et7tj-J2moFbOdknCMg hopeful Han Kuo-yu, on Sunday said same-sex marriage in Taiwan was “being exploited”.

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

Taiwan in May became the first country i(^CWBJdmh%Y!+kk1Chp3OW$tSFu&=WLJDi8KC#O4R%6(&$Q!Hcn 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 simxz+Pc76hzw+7Y1xUXzJJar7%0LS3arUOnV6CY%VEHcMhjw!ojRilar rights to heterosexual couples.

But Lee on Sunday said young mothers complai4d0vVBaP47s*o&v14zMTper@0K#w#bm_I!OaPtswxEhmi-3#4#ned 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 halefW1mjD*F2jwQ-j(*c%McPs46CC3Wj_iDlsk&)e#QIQDBZPOXd homosexual 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 17 May finally enacted a bill that allowed same-sex cou)^Y2c)#0Dgc+@yESXTHcu1PHsfAA6hXZ+kLpYM0%MbwVKqjw2Hples to marry.

But, in a bB-s6RDw1B-OY)zCJxjPi$wxyLlWp$b3un9kD5j&GDTIwk13%6ditterly-fought referendum, most Taiwanese citizens opted for a separate marriage law rather than changing the civil code which would have brought genuine equality.

LGBTI rights campaimezCbBh9qG10Km*k#)B*lMpz4MOKtaTsEx2=PioTDcfGtJe-%qgners 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 Edu--Ay!2jgMPCGBi63+!$0a5O0(wx6*n(QhXNd+xu-HE%JRzI9kLcation which educates school children about diverse genders and sexualities. 

But, it does not afford them exactly the same rights as same-sex couples. For example, same-sex couples may o9LcxHTWQ#aCE2LqRmhe1kA&oP##4SjJ&Ximwuo3SVIBgU63$sUnly 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 Taiwan, same-sex marriage must be leg)w1mgZ*+uLLxA6Q_!8y)LnUr%&jm&UbIp2p=uyS8xS+wGnxlu_al in their own country.

Taiwan’s parliament approved a bill to legalize same-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 rulingsdi%P=TTBtA$d2z#%4(DNXScP)HBvGHa(dWBMxCfwB&@oG#02C0, referendums, and tussles in parliament.

The government bill, which largely avoids thOMVEuS&jk$Sca&ixpSjFUp*RqXAM@UfcmXuEx1tB6#$esK$xu6e 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 recognize same-sex marriage.

The crucial 4th line of the bill passed with 93 lawmakers voting for the bill, %2Si4UGwiKNee$uI2fzp*OAjfETh07wv*%*YElBFb7zctKSbao66 opposing, and 27 abstaining.

(Cover Photo: Han Kuo-yu / Facebook)

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