A bill drafted by the Happiness of the Next Generation Alliance yesterday advanced to a second reading and would be reviewed alongside the Cabinet’s draft “enforcement act of the Judicial Yuan Constitutional Interpretation No. 748.”
The bill, titled “draft enforcement act of Referendum No. 12,” was submitted during a legislative plenary session by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) on behalf of the group.
The New Power Party (NPP) caucus filed a motion to strike down the draft bill, garnering five votes for and 70 against.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
NPP legislators Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌), Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), Freddy Lim (林昶佐) and Kawlo Iyun Pacidal, as well as KMT Legislator Jason Hsu (許毓仁), voted to block the bill, while Democratic Progressive Party, People First Party and other KMT lawmakers voted to advance it.
The voting result is in line with an agreement among the legislative caucuses to review all bills concerning same-sex marriage at once.
The referendum, which asked: “Do you agree that the right to persons of the same sex to create a permanent union should be guaranteed by an institution other than marriage as defined by the Civil Code?” was passed after garnering 6.4 million “yes” votes and 4.07 million “no” votes on Nov. 24 last year.
The draft enforcement act of Referendum No. 12 refers to same-sex couples as “family members” throughout, with an explanation saying that the wording was derived from Article 1,123 of the Civil Code, which states that “a person who is not a blood relative or a spouse, but who lives in the same home, shall be considered a family member.”
The wording is in line with the Council of Grand Justices’ Constitutional Interpretation No. 748, which only states that the right of two people of the same sex to form families should be protected, but does not say how, the alliance says.
The alliance’s bill says that people who are collateral relatives to six degrees must not be same-sex family members, which is stricter than the Cabinet’s proposal, which says that collateral relatives within four degrees should not be legally united.
It also seeks to bar relatives-in-law from starting a family.
Although “eugentic considerations do not apply to same-sex family members,” the legislation has been written in a way to uphold the nation’s long-standing family ethics, the alliance said.
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
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
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
RSS