Despite being the first city in the nation to recognize same-sex partnerships, Kaohsiung will not allow wedding leave to homosexuals until the national law is changed to recognize same-same marriages, a city government official said yesterday.
Personnel Department head Yeh Jui-yu (葉瑞與) said because same-sex marriages would be a breach of the Civil Code, the city government would not approve any requests for wedding leave from homosexual staff.
However, the department said it would urge the central government to amend regulations to “protect human rights,” Yeh said during a hearing at the Kaohsiung City Council.
On May 20, Kaohsiung became the first city in the nation to allow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) residents to list their partners on household registration records.
Taipei and Taichung followed suit on June 17 and Oct. 1 respectively.
So far, 69 same-sex couples have registered their partnerships in Kaohsiung, but two couples withdrew their registrations last month, according to statistics compiled by the Kaohsiung City Government.
The designation of partners in the records does not give LGBT couples the same rights as married couples, but it does allow registered LGBT people to sign medical agreements for each other.
Although same-sex marriage is not legally recognized in Taiwan and ceremonies marking such unions are only symbolic, many see these decisions by the local governments as a sign of rising public support for gay marriage, while others uphold the notion of marriage as being between a man and a woman.
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