Thursday last week marked the first anniversary of the constitutional interpretation in favor of same-sex marriage. However, for people who support LGBT rights, they probably see the date as marking a full year of delay of an amendment to the Civil Code by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Several days ago, at an event marking the second anniversary of her inauguration, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) finally responded to the dispute over marriage equality, saying that her administration would amend the law to guarantee freedom of marriage and the right to equality according to the Council of Grand Justices’ interpretation.
Tsai added that the relevant agencies would propose a plan for the legislative review.
For marriage equality supporters, Tsai’s response was far from satisfactory and has sparked concern: It sounded like clever wordplay resulting from political calculation.
These feelings of discontent are not unfounded. Although the constitutional interpretation in support of the freedom of marriage and the right to equality for LGBT people, the required amendment to the laws has been stalled by the government.
On May 11, the New Power Party proposed passing a draft bill on marriage equality in the legislature, but the proposal was blocked by the DPP.
When asked about the bill during a radio interview, DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said that the party would not deal with the issue before the year-end elections.
No wonder Tsai’s answer has received far more criticism and disapproval than applause.
Upon closer scrutiny, Tsai’s response only indicates that the government will propose a plan without giving a timetable.
Making promises like this will only give the ruling party the opportunity to keep delaying the amendment, while allowing the anti-LGBT camp more time to manipulate the issue.
Moreover, Tsai did not specify what kind of “plan” it is. Did she mean the amendment to the Civil Code, the legalization of same-sex marriage, or the passage of a special law that grants marriage-like rights to same-sex couples, which is promoted by anti-LGBT groups with an implicit discriminatory attitude?
After all, amid the ongoing disputes over marriage equality, Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) has taken a strong stance in support of enacting a special act, and the Executive Yuan has never clarified whether it would directly propose an amendment to the Civil Code to complete the legalization of same-sex marriage.
Constitutional Interpretation No. 748 proclaims the freedom of marriage and the right to equality for LGBT people, but it also states that the formality remains “within the discretion of the authorities concerned.”
Even though many legal experts and LGBT advocates have pointed out that a special law would not achieve “equal protection of the freedom of marriage for two persons of the same sex,” as required in the constitutional interpretation, the anti-LGBT camp clings on to the phrase “within the discretion of the authorities concerned to determine the formality” and backs the enactment of a special law instead of legalizing same-sex marriage.
One of the three anti-LGBT referendum proposals — “Do you agree that the right of same-sex couples to live together should be protected through ways that do not require amending the Civil Code” — shows the group’s idea that freedom for same-sex couples does not necessarily have to be achieved through marriage.
This is why the anti-LGBT camp proposes that same-sex marriage should be excluded from the Civil Code and a special act should be enacted instead.
Putting aside the questionable legal logic behind the anti-LGBT camp’s proposals, Tsai’s remark is even more worrying.
Instead of affirming the legalization of same-sex marriage or the realization of marriage equality, Tsai only promised that the government would guarantee freedom of marriage for LGBT people according to the grand justices’ interpretation.
It makes people wonder if her remarks are in fact cunningly contrived political rhetoric and calculation.
Perhaps Tsai’s real purpose is to sit on the fence and to wait until the results of the anti-LGBT referendums come out: If the referendum results show stronger support for amending the Civil Code, the DPP will then consider legalizing same-sex marriage.
However, if the results do not support the amendment, then the Cabinet will propose a special law and take concerted action with the anti-LGBT camp, while claiming that freedom of marriage will still be guaranteed.
It would be great if these concerns only stemmed from over-sensitive speculation rather than as a result of Tsai’s intricately and intentionally ambiguous political jargon.
With its majority in the legislature, instead of asking supporters of LGBT rights to stop meddling, the DPP should come up with more concrete actions if it wants to dispel doubts and redeem a little of its political integrity in terms of LGBT issues.
Jiang Ho-ching is a doctoral candidate in anthropology at American University in Washington.
Translated by Ho-ming Chang
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
In the 2022 book Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China, academics Hal Brands and Michael Beckley warned, against conventional wisdom, that it was not a rising China that the US and its allies had to fear, but a declining China. This is because “peaking powers” — nations at the peak of their relative power and staring over the precipice of decline — are particularly dangerous, as they might believe they only have a narrow window of opportunity to grab what they can before decline sets in, they said. The tailwinds that propelled China’s spectacular economic rise over the past