Taichung is to allow same-sex couples to participate in its twice yearly mass weddings next year, a city official said.
The decision follows a similar one by the local governments of Taoyuan and Taipei, which last week included gay couples in their mass weddings for the first time.
Taichung Civil Affairs Bureau director Tsai Shi-yin (蔡世寅) said the paperwork could not be completed in time for the inclusion of same-sex couples in the city’s mass wedding this year, but the decision will be implemented next year.
The response came after Democratic Progressive Party Taichung City Councilor Lai Chia-wei (賴佳微) questioned why Taichung had not allowed the participation of same-sex couples in its recent mass wedding.
Lai said Taichung city councilors made a request as early as May for gay couples to be included and the city government’s gender equality committee followed up in July with a similar request.
While Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has spoken out in support of same-sex marriage, he has been trailing Taoyuan and Taipei in terms of action, Lai said.
Taichung Deputy Mayor Chang Kuang-yao (張光瑤) said there would not be restrictions on the number of same-sex couples who can participate in next year’s mass weddings.
Although same-sex marriages are not legally recognized in Taiwan and the weddings are only symbolic, many see these decisions by the local governments as a sign of rising public support for gay marriage in the nation.
Taiwan is seen as one of the more liberal nations regarding gay rights in Asia.
On May 20, Kaohsiung became the first city in the nation to allow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) residents to list their partners in the city’s household registration records. Taipei and Taichung followed suit on June 17 and Oct. 1 respectively.
The designation of partners on records does not give LGBT couples the same rights as heterosexual couples, but it does allow registered LGBT couples to sign medical agreements for each other, something they had not been able to do in the past.
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced a ban on all current and former government officials from traveling to China to attend a military parade on Sept. 3, which Beijing is to hold to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. "This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Republic of China’s victory in the War of Resistance [Against Japan]," MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing in Taipei. To prevent Beijing from using the Sept. 3 military parade and related events for "united
‘OFFSHORE OPERATIONS’: Also in Dallas, Texas, the Ministry of Economic Affairs inaugurated its third Taiwan Trade and Investment Center to foster closer cooperation The 2025 Taiwan Expo USA opened on Thursday in Dallas, Texas, featuring 150 Taiwanese companies showcasing their latest technologies in the fields of drones, smart manufacturing and healthcare. The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the event’s organizer, said the exhibitors this year include Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (Foxconn), the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer; AUO; PC brand Asustek Computer; and drone maker Thunder Tiger. In his opening speech, TAITRA chairman James Huang (黃志芳) said he expected Texas to become a world-class center for innovation and manufacturing as US technology companies from Silicon Valley and Taiwanese manufacturers form an industrial cluster
A 20-year-old man yesterday evening was electrocuted and fell to his death after he climbed a seven-story-high electricity tower to photograph the sunset, causing a wildfire on Datong Mountain (大同山) in New Taipei City’s Shulin District (樹林), the Taoyuan Police Department said today. The man, surnamed Hsieh (謝), was accompanied on an evening walk by a 20-year-old woman surnamed Shang (尚) who remained on the ground and witnessed the incident, capturing a final photograph of her friend sitting atop the tower before his death, an initial investigation showed. Shang then sought higher ground to call for help, police said. The New Taipei
RSS