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.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,