New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) yesterday proposed a draft same-sex marriage bill that he said focuses on protecting the rights and interests of children with same-sex parents.
Lim’s proposal, titled the “Draft Same-sex Marriage Equality Protection Act,” says that two individuals of the same sex may become engaged or marry following the regulations in the Civil Code that apply to heterosexual couples and that same-sex marriages would have the same legal effect as marriages defined in the Civil Code as unions between a man and a woman.
The draft proposal would also allow people in same-sex marriages to have a child through assisted reproduction with the approval of their partner.
Photo: Chiang Chih-hsiung, Taipei Times
The regulations prescribed in the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) would apply to couples in same-sex marriages, and children conceived by same-sex couples using assisted reproduction would be considered children born in wedlock, the proposal says.
Article 7 of Lim’s draft would recognize same-sex marriages between a Republic of China (ROC) citizen and a foreigner performed under the law of the country of citizenship of one party or the law of the nation in which the marriage was performed.
The proposal focuses not on the title, but on granting children born in same-sex marriages the same legal protection as other children born in wedlock, said Lim, who has begun collecting signatures for his proposal.
The bill is a counterproposal to a draft act unveiled by the Executive Yuan on Wednesday titled the “enforcement act of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748.”
The title, which refers to the Council of Grand Justices’ ruling on May 24, 2017, that the Civil Code’s definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman is unconstitutional, does not include the word “marriage” — a topic of much debate between supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage.
Lin said that he was “impressed” by the person who thought of the title.
The NPP supports Lim’s proposal, NPP Legislator and caucus whip Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said yesterday.
Hsu said that he had signed a petition supporting Lim’s proposal and if it did not gather enough signatures to be considered, the NPP would consider proposing a competing same-sex marriage bill, using Lim’s version as the foundation.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
Chinese embassy staffers attempted to interrupt an award ceremony of an international tea competition in France when the organizer introduced Taiwan and displayed the Republic of China flag, a Taiwanese tea farmer said in an interview published today. Hsieh Chung-lin (謝忠霖), chief executive of Juxin Tea Factory from Taichung's Lishan (梨山) area, on Dec. 2 attended the Teas of the World International Contest held at the Peruvian embassy in Paris. Hsieh was awarded a special prize for his Huagang Snow Source Tea by the nonprofit Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products (AVPA). During the ceremony, two Chinese embassy staffers in attendance
RSS