Gay rights groups on Friday urged the Executive Yuan to respond to the May constitutional interpretation by the Council of Grand Justices in favor of same-sex marriage and quickly propose a draft bill for its legalization.
Although Premier William Lai (賴清德) has expressed support for same-sex marriage, a bill is nowhere to be seen on his Cabinet’s list of priorities, gay-marriage advocate Jennifer Lu (呂欣潔) said at a news conference at the legislature.
The court had asked the government to work out the details needed to achieve the “equal protection of the freedom of marriage,” Lu said, urging the Executive Yuan to fulfill its responsibility and propose a draft bill in response to the ruling.
She also called on the Legislative Yuan to quickly pass the second and third reading of an amendment to the Civil Code that would legalize same-sex marriage and allow married gay couples to adopt children.
The amendment has been stuck in the legislature after it passed an initial reading late last year.
Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association member Tsao Cheng-hsi (曹承羲) said that gay couples urgently need legal recognition and protection, and Lai should not turn away from them.
Taiwan Gender Queer Rights Advocacy Alliance secretary-general Nelson Hu (胡勝翔) said his partner of 12 years had been diagnosed with a rare form of hemangioma and doctors have said he could die soon.
Even though they have registered their partnership at a household registration office, giving Hu the right to sign medical forms for his partner, they are still excluded from many social welfare benefits reserved for married heterosexual couples, Hu said.
“We don’t have that much time to wait,” he said in a statement.
Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said that the executive would handle the issue within the time allotted by the Grand Justices and would listen to opinions from all sides.
The court asked the authorities to amend or enact laws to legalize same-sex marriage within two years.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus whip Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) said she believes the that Executive Yuan will respect the court’s ruling and push for marriage equality.
Ho said that the issue has yet to be discussed in the DPP caucus meeting, but she respects individual lawmakers’ opinions.
The news conference was held ahead of the one-year anniversary of the death of French lecturer Jacques Picoux, who committed suicide on Oct. 16 last year.
A prominent figure in the gay community, Picoux was reportedly denied the right to make medical decisions for his longtime partner before he died of an illness.
He was later also forced to vacate the apartment he shared with his partner, because their union was not recognized as a marriage.
Picoux’s death reignited calls for the legalization of same-sex marriage in Taiwan.
The groups said they are to host an event to commemorate Picoux on Oct. 16 on Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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