Several groups opposed to marriage equality yesterday filed a second appeal with the Taiwan High Administrative Court in a bid to overturn a constitutional interpretation that instructs the government to legalize same-sex marriage.
The groups, led by Alliance of Taiwan Religious Groups for the Protection of the Family secretary-general Chang Shou-yi (張守一), submitted a new petition against same-sex marriage after the court dismissed their first petition on Jan. 10.
“There were numerous illegalities and a clear violation of the law in the process that resulted in the issuance of last year’s Constitutional Interpretation No. 748,” Chang said. “Also, the interpretation and the reasons given by the Council of Grand Justices in its ruling contravene articles of the Constitution.”
Photo: CNA
“Therefore, we ask the High Administrative Court judges to have the conscience and moral integrity to rule on our appeal through their own independent stance, and not to cave in to political influence and forces of intimidation, and to reach a decision conforming to the freedoms and values of our democratic society,” he said.
The council should have turned down an application for a constitutional interpretation on same-sex marriage submitted by gay rights advocate Chi Chia-wei (祁家威) in August 2015, due to violations of legal procedure and the unconstitutional aspect of the process, Chang said.
Chang has been spearheading a campaign to rally groups that support traditional social and family values, and those representing various faiths.
Representatives from the Citizens Coalition to Safeguard Taiwan, the Alliance for the Happiness of Future Generations, itw999 Group and the Taiwan Civil Rights Solidarity Organization yesterday accompanied Chang as he submitted the application.
The groups have been fighting demands by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocates for legal recognition of marriage between same-sex partners, which would give them the right to form a family, recognize them as heads of households and give them parental guardianship of children, along with inheritance and shared property ownership rights.
Members of the groups yesterday held up placards that read “The gay rights movement is devouring Taiwan,” “Once these discriminatory laws are approved, people will have no freedom of speech and no religious freedom” and “We want sexual liberation education out of our schools.”
Chang pointed at what he said were flaws and wrong interpretations by Wu Chen-huan (吳陳鐶), the judge who rejected the previous petition.
Wu said in his ruling that “the Council of Grand Justices exercised its judiciary authority to take up the constitutional interpretation [on Chi’s case]... The procedure was not under the authority of an administrative body, and its related litigation does not belong under the authority of the Taiwan High Administrative Court, which would have no right to rule on the case.”
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
RSS