Despite the stormy weather, on Tuesday night dozens of gay-rights advocates — many of them Christian — gathered outside the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan in Taipei to protest the church’s decision to oppose same-sex marriage.
Amid pouring rain, lightning and thunder, about 50 people stood outside the church, praying and holding candles and banners that read: “Where is justice? Faith is dead” and “The church’s moral courage that lasted 150 years is gone,” to pressure the church to overturn its decision to oppose same-sex marriage.
A young Christian man marched to the church’s headquarters carrying a wooden cross, with the slogan “Jesus shoulders the stigma from the church and society for you.”
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The nighttime rally was triggered by a letter issued by the church’s general assembly, which announced that the church would officially oppose same-sex marriage.
While many Christian churches have voiced their opposition to same-sex marriage, the pastoral letter from the Presbyterian church is considered unacceptable by many of its members, as well as gay rights activists, since the church has long been a symbol of human rights in Taiwan and many of its pastors have openly supported same-sex marriage and are active in the campaign to legalize homosexual marriage.
Clergy within the church have split views on the issue, with most pastors affiliated with the general assembly and churches in the north supporting same-sex marriage, while pastors in the south oppose it.
The letter came as a result of a motion made jointly by pastors representing two Presbyterian churches in Greater Kaohsiung and supported by several other churches in the south.
The motion led to heated debate among church members, but was eventually adopted and confirmed by the general assembly on Tuesday afternoon.
In related news, gay rights activists yesterday urged Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Liao Cheng-ching (廖正井) and Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) — co-chairs of the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statues Committee — to quickly schedule meetings to review amendments to the Civil Code that are designed to legalize same-sex marriage.
“In 1996, when I was married to my [same-sex] partner Gray Harriman, [Greater] Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu [陳菊] — who was the director of the Taipei City Department of Social Affairs at the time — gave us a wedding present with the words ‘love is a fundamental human right,’” writer and gay rights activist Hsu Yu-sheng (許佑生) told a news conference at the legislature.
“I was 35 years old at the time, now I’m 53, and am still fighting for equality in marriage,” Hsu said.
“Many countries have legalized same-sex marriage, we’re falling too far behind,” he said.
Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights executive director Victoria Hsu (許秀雯) said that gay rights advocacy groups delivered their own versions of amendments to allow same-sex marriage three years ago, and the proposal passed the initial phase seven months ago, “but the committee chairs have never scheduled a review of the proposed amendment, ignoring the 150,000 people who signed a petition in support of same-sex marriage.”
Following the press conference, the group delivered more than 2,000 cards signed by supporters of gay marriage to Liao’s office, urging Liao and Lu to quickly schedule reviews of the amendment.
In response, Liao’s office said by telephone that it has not been trying to block the proposal, but instead Liao hopes to hear more public opinion on the highly controversial amendment before scheduling a review.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
RSS