Rights activists and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday hailed the Legislative Yuan’s decision to officially begin the review of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, and urged their colleagues to support the bill.
“This is a good start, but also a test of Taiwan’s democracy because diversity and equality should be maintained and protected in a democratic society,” DPP Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) told a news conference after the legislature unanimously voted to refer amendments to the Civil Code to allow people of the same sex to be married to be further discussed by the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
“The law should protect human rights, not become a source of discrimination, and everyone — regardless of their sexual orientation — should have the right to form a family,” she said.
She also urged Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers to join the “campaign for equal rights.”
No KMT lawmaker endorsed the bill.
“People who are opposed to same-sex marriage claim that the bill may encourage more people to become gay, but that is not true,” DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) said.
“No heterosexual person would suddenly turn into a homosexual just because same-sex marriage is legalized,” she said.
“Studies show that at least 10 percent of the population is gay, and they are entitled to rights granted to everyone by the Constitution. We should not pretend that they do not exist,” Yu said.
Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights president Victoria Hsu (許秀雯) said that a truly non-discriminatory society is one in which parents would no longer worry when they learn that their children are gay.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese