TAIPEI – The last most people have heard about Taiwan is about the time the country’s president’s phone call with Donald Trump almost ended the world.
While we may be aware of this, many of us have failed to notice that Taiwan may be the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
It seems like marriage equality has swept the globe in the past few years, it’s a sad truth that only 22 countries have legalized same-sex marriage; 23 if you’re counting Mexico where same-sex marriage is only legal in some jurisdictions. Most countries, no matter how progressive they claim to be, have yet to take the plunge to make marriage accessible to their LGBTQ+ citizens.
Taiwan’s possible legalization of same-sex marriage will bring the narrative of marriage equality back to the eyes of mainstream media and international governments.
And this goes especially to countries in Asia, our planet’s largest continent, which have yet to take a step in the direction of equality for their LGBTQ+ citizens.
After hours of a long debate, Taiwan’s parliament finally passed the first draft of its marriage equality bill on Monday, December 27, 2016. The bill, if passed, would act as an amendment to the definition of marriage, changing it from only being between a man and a woman, to being between any two people, regardless of gender. While the bill has survived one of many debates, it will continue to face extreme opposition by fundamental religious groups. The process will take up to six months which will be a grueling wait for many couples who hope to be recognized by the law.
Even if the country seems to be equally in favor of as is opposed to same-sex marriage, 46% to 45% respectively, the numbers of those who have shown support for the bill’s passing heavily outnumbered those who oppose it. 30,000 flocked the streets in excitement while only 4,000 showed up to protest parliament’s decision.
A supporter was quoted saying “I think mutual love between humans is very natural, so I was never able to understand why people who love each other should not be able to get married, just because they like men or like women or because they are transgender and so on. I think we should stand up.”
Taiwan’s fight for marriage equality will still prove to be a long one. The proposed bill is alive for now, it could easily be decided against the next time it’s visited which is expected to be sometime in April or May of 2017. Although the future is uncertain, the floods of hope this bill has brought are palpable to the LGBTQ+ community around the world. This bill’s possible success will be a much needed positive change from the blazing circus act that 2016 has proved to be and will surely be a push in the right directions for many countries which have yet to take a step towards marriage equality.
