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.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS