About 1,500 supporters of same-sex marriage gathered outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday, as lawmakers negotiated versions of a bill to fulfill the requirements of the Council of Grand Justices’ Interpretation No. 748.
The council on May 24, 2017, ruled that the Civil Code’s prohibition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and set a two-year deadline for the law to be amended to allow marriage between partners of the same sex.
The rally, which was organized by LGBT rights group Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan, was held in support of the Executive Yuan’s version of the bill.
Photo: CNA
Pegatron Corp (和碩) chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), actress Wen Chen-ling (溫貞菱) and director Yee Chih-yen (易智言) were among the celebrities at the rally.
The Executive Yuan’s bill is already a compromise for LGBT groups, who would not accept any other possibility, coalition chief coordinator Jennifer Lu (呂欣潔) said.
While the Cabinet’s bill is not perfect, as it does not guarantee “complete marriage equality,” it is a compromise that LGBT rights advocates are willing to make to end the dispute between those who support and oppose marriage equality, and out of respect for societal harmony, she said.
LGBT groups would not accept a bill that does not allow same-sex partners to register their marriage or become legal spouses, she said, adding that “unions” cannot replace marriage.
Meanwhile, the Coalition for the Happiness of Our Next Generation hosted a news conference in Taipei calling on lawmakers not to force the passage of a same-sex marriage bill, saying that doing so would be against the will of the people.
The Legislative Yuan is required to enact legislation based on the principle that the Civil Code defines marriage as between a man and a woman, the group said, adding that this “new legislative principle” was introduced with the passage last year of Referendum No. 10, which asked: “Do you agree that the Civil Code should define marriage as the union between a man and a woman?”
The group urged the Legislative Yuan to adopt the “draft enforcement act of Referendum No. 12,” one of the three proposed bills.
The version, which was introduced by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), would guarantee the right of two people of the same sex to live together, it said.
Lawmakers failed to reach a consensus during negotiations, but agreed to remove an article in Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Tai-hua’s (林岱樺) bill that would have given a same-sex couple’s relatives the right to request the annulment of their union.
The Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan is to host another rally outside the Legislative Yuan on Friday as lawmakers vote on the bills.
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
ENHANCED SECURITY: A Japanese report said that the MOU is about the sharing of information on foreign nationals entering Japan from Taiwan in the event of an emergency The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that Taiwan and Japan had signed an agreement to promote information exchanges and cooperation on border management, although it did not disclose more details on the pact. Ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said the ministry is happy to see that the two nations continue to enhance cooperation on immigration control, in particular because Taiwan and Japan “share a deep friendship and frequent people-to-people exchanges.” “Last year, more than 7.32 million visits were made between the two countries, making it even more crucial for both sides to work closer on immigration and border control,” he said. Hsiao
RSS