The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday announced that homosexual party employees would be entitled to the same benefits as married employees, including honeymoon leave and wedding gift money.
The announcement came ahead of the Taiwan LGBT Pride Parade scheduled for Saturday in Taipei.
At a meeting of the DPP Central Standing Committee yesterday, the party said it would expand benefits offered to married employees, their spouses and families to employees who have registered their same-sex partnership with local governments.
Those employees will now be entitled to wedding gift money, honeymoon leave, parental leave, family care leave and bereavement leave for their partner, as well as relief payments and other perks reserved for married employees, DPP spokesman Yang Chia-liang (楊家俍) said.
“Marriage equality is a value pursued by the DPP. Making marriage equality a reality for party employees is the first step toward making legal amendments,” Yang said, referring to a draft amendment to the Civil Code proposed by DPP lawmakers on Monday that aims to legalize same-sex marriage.
“I expressed approval to the DPP’s commitment to marriage equality. We will give the best blessing to any party employee who requests those benefits under the new rule,” Yang quoted President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as saying.
Tsai openly supported marriage equality at the LGBT pride parade last year, and the DPP’s decision to extend employment benefits to same-sex couples is her first, although implicit, statement about the issue after assuming the presidency.
There are 11 cities and counties where same-sex partnerships are recognized in the household registration system: the six special municipalities and Chiayi City, as well as Yilan, Hsinchu, Changhua and Chiayi counties.
Nationwide recognition of same-sex partnership requires a revision to the Civil Code, Yang said.
DPP Secretary-General Hung Yao-fu (洪耀福) has invited all DPP members to join in Saturday’s parade, Yang said, adding that the party has prepared rainbow banners, caps and stickers to be distributed to parade-goers.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
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