Watching her boisterous twin toddlers romp around the living room, Hope Chen said she worries what would happen to them if she ever fell seriously ill or had an accident.
In a worst-case scenario, it should be her partner of seven years who would look after them, Chen said, but they are not both recognized as legal guardians because they are gay and cannot marry.
Chen, 37, gave birth using eggs from her partner, Zoro Wen. She had to travel to Thailand for IVF, which is only allowed in Taiwan for married couples.
Photo: AFP
“I’m the mother who gave birth, so I’m the only legal parent,” said Chen, 37, from the family’s Taoyuan apartment, where a floor-to-ceiling bookcase includes the title Why do you have two moms?
“For her, even though they have blood relations, she has no parental rights,” Chen said.
Men in an unmarried heterosexual relationship can still gain guardianship of their children through adoption — an option which is also not available to Chen and Wen.
The couple hopes things will soon change as the government debates amendments to the Civil Code that would make Taiwan the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
However, while support for marriage equality has gained momentum since pro-gay rights President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) came to power in May, so too have resisting voices, revealing a divided society deeply rooted in traditional family values.
Both sides have staged large-scale rallies in the past month, attracting tens of thousands, ahead of a critical second review of three draft bills for marriage equality tomorrow.
The first review last month, held by a parliamentary vetting committee — to decide on one version to put forward to the legislature — ended without consensus as thousands of protesters criticized the lack of public participation in drafting the bills.
“There is now such a high expectation for the dream to be realized. You cannot bring it crashing down, can you?” Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker who proposed one of the bills, said in an interview referring to opponents of reform.
Taiwan is one of the region’s most forward-thinking societies when it comes to gay rights, hosting a gay pride parade that draws tens of thousands every year.
Still, past attempts to legalize same-sex marriage stalled under the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which dominated politics for decades before being unseated by the DPP in this year’s elections.
A recent poll by think tank Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation shows the public is evenly split on the issue.
Mother-of-three Becky Wu, who is the head of a parents’ union of Taipei elementary schools, said she is concerned that changes to the Civil Code would change what she sees as fundamentals in society.
“Our basic morals and concepts, ancestry, grandmother, grandfather, mother, father — all those will disappear,” she said. “It becomes the rights of the minority over the rights of the majority.”
“In the past, kids were taught men and women have sex because they love each other and marry,” she said. “Now they are told love is not a prerequisite and they are free to experiment, either with men or women.”
Religious groups remain the staunchest critics of equal marriage, with an alliance of Buddhist, Taoist and Christian organizations issuing a statement last month warning of destruction to social ethics and traditional family values.
Some opponents suggest a separate new law should be made covering same-sex unions, rather than changing the law to become gender neutral, as is proposed.
However, equal marriage rights advocates said that would lead to segregation, and would not support the rest of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
The Civil Code should be made completely gender neutral to cover bisexual and transgender people as well, said Victoria Hsu (許秀雯), a lawyer who leads campaign group Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights.
“Everyone is a citizen, so why can’t we use the civil law to marry?” Hsu said.
For Chen, the lack of legal recognition meant her partner was not allowed into the operating room when she was about to undergo a difficult caesarean section.
It was also a complicated process to list their children as insurance policy beneficiaries to Wen, a doctor who is the main breadwinner in the family, Chen said.
However, to the twins, there is nothing questionable about the difference in their family. They call Chen ma-mi and Wen ah-bi — a family name they conjured.
“They are very clear that other families are ba-ba and ma-ma, while we are ma-mi and ah-bi,” Chen said. “They have naturally accepted that is the way our family is.”
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS