Lawmakers yesterday criticized Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) for defending “traditions” against a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage during a hearing at the Council of Grand Justices, with Premier Lin Chuan (林全) saying that the minister’s remarks “do not represent the Executive Yuan.”
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), a marriage equality advocate, said that the debate on legalizing same-sex marriage has evolved from discussions on the Internet, in the Legislative Yuan and on the streets to a hearing at the council, which should be considered a “pride of Taiwan.”
“However, it is regretful that the Ministry of Justice did not demonstrate the depth expected from it, but chose to continue using certain rhetoric that could easily lead to public confusion,” she said.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Jason Hsu (許毓仁), who also advocates amending the Civil Code, wrote on Facebook that the ministry failed to propose a bill on same-sex marriage when lawmakers motioned their versions.
“It neither opposed Civil Code [amendments], nor proposed its own version,” Hsu said. “However, during oral arguments, Chiu was apparently against amending the Civil Code, and the reason he gave, absurdly, was a possible confusion of kinship titles. It was so low-level an argument that the ministry could be renamed ‘dinosaur ministry.’”
“In oral arguments he said that a separate law could serve the purpose of ‘separate, but equal.’ The question is: ‘How could separation be equal?’ How can this distorting attitude help garner public trust?” he said.
DPP Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) teased Chiu for calling heterosexual marriage a “thousand-year tradition,” saying: “It is only morning, stop drinking.”
DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said on Facebook that “the ministry’s remarks at the council do not represent” his opinions.
However, the post was later removed.
New Power Party Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) at a question-and-answer session at the legislature yesterday asked Lin Chuan whether “the biased stance” of “separate, but equal” reflects the position of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration.
The premier said Chiu did not speak for the Executive Yuan.
Lin Chuan added that he did not understand what the minister meant by “separate, but equal” and would have him expound on it.
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