The gender equality advocacy group Equal Love Taiwan (婚姻平權大平台) yesterday encouraged people to let go of prejudice and discrimination and to hold on to blessings and happiness so that Taiwan becomes a harmonious society in which people have respect for each other.
The group issued the statement yesterday to mark the 100th day of the Enforcement Act of Judicial Yuan Constitutional Interpretation No. 748 (司法院釋字第748號解釋施行法), which legalized same-sex marriage in Taiwan. The act officially took effect on May 24.
Many same-sex couples got married on May 24, including social media celebrities Marc (小銘) and Shane (小玄), who run a Facebook fan page called “Marc and Shane’s Husbands Daily Life (小銘小玄夫夫日常).”
Photo: Lo Chi, Taipei Times
Marc and Shane on Friday shared their thoughts about being married for 100 days on their fan page.
One memory they shared was of walking in Taipei’s Shilin Night Market when “three fashionably dressed men suddenly came up to us and gave us their blessings.”
“One said to us ‘wishing you both happiness,’ while another said, ‘keep it up forever’ and gave us a cute heart-shaped hand gesture,” they wrote.
“We thought to ourselves, maybe this is the real meaning of legalizing same-sex marriage — allowing everyone to really understand the meaning of love,” the couple wrote.
A man surnamed Chang (張) said he used to think all older adults were against same-sex marriage, but he was deeply moved after seeing some elderly people wear the LGBT+ pride flag.
He feels that more people are willing to accept same-sex marriage.
Lo Yu-cheng (羅羽宸), a woman who plans to marry her same-sex partner, said discussions about homosexuality are more common after Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, and that some people have become more supportive after taking part in these discussions.
Jennifer Lu (呂欣潔), convener of the advocacy group Equal Love Taiwan, said: “Legalizing same-sex marriage is not the end of the LGBT rights movement, but only the beginning of more presence and conversations.”
“We hope more married same-sex couples can share their stories about married life with society, to let people know that same-sex couples are the same, doing their jobs and settling down with a family,” she said.
According to an Executive Yuan administrative performance report sent to the Legislative Yuan on Friday, after the act was passed by the legislature on May 17 and implemented on May 24, household registration offices nationwide received 1,290 registrations for same-sex marriages and two divorces as of the end of June.
Additional reporting by Peng Wang-hsin
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
The Taipei District Court today ruled to extend the incommunicado detention of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) for two more months as part of an ongoing corruption trial. Codefendants in the case — real-estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Ko's former mayoral office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) — were granted bail of NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) and NT$20 million respectively. Sheen and Lee would also be barred from leaving the country for eight months and prohibited from contact with, harassing, threatening or inquiring after the case with codefendants or witnesses. The two would also be
RSS