Ireland held a referendum on the legalization of same-sex marriage on May 22, and 62.1 percent of Irish voters supported the proposal. The Catholic Church representatives opposed to the proposal behaved in a democratic spirit and offered their blessings. Outside Dublin Castle, an Irish government complex, many supporters waved rainbow flags to celebrate this significant day.
Ireland has always been a conservative Catholic state compared with other countries in western Europe; it was only in 1993 that gay sex was decriminalized. As social attitudes and thinking has changed, Ireland, where 92 percent of the total population are Catholic, has become the world’s first country to legalize same-sex marriage. So why does it feel as if Taiwan, which has never criminalized gay sex, is so far behind?
In a public hearing organized by the legislature a few months ago, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) described same-sex marriage as encouraging “bestiality,” and opponents to marriage equality resort to accusations lacking grounds in medical knowledge and common sense and label homosexuality unnatural and perverse and as facilitating the spread of HIV/AIDS and venereal diseases.
We should respect every individual’s right to freedom of speech and we should respect a person’s sexual orientation. Gay rights are not a favor bestowed on gays by straight society and the argument that Taiwanese society is already friendly to homosexuals, so gays should know when enough is enough, is wrong-headed. Homosexuals and heterosexuals are equals and must be treated as such, because if they are not, homosexuals are likely to become second-class citizens.
All citizens are obliged to pay tax, perform military service and receive an education, but homosexuals are deprived of the freedom to marry. Such discriminatory treatment highlights the state’s bias and fear of homosexuality. Some people advocate banning same-sex marriage based on excuses such as the need to maintain the tradition or definition of marriage.
Such calls for differentiated treatment represent systemic homophobia. They must not be legitimized because the effect is such that differentiated treatment is seen and understood as government support for segregation.
Other people base their restrictions on the rights of others on the need to maintain social order, but a simulated constitutional court organized by a former grand justice last year declared that the ban on same-sex marriage violates the Constitution. Moreover, according to the most recent opinion polls presented in the media, more than half of all Taiwanese now support the legalization of same-sex marriage. If Taiwan could learn from Ireland and hold a referendum on the issue, perhaps the rainbow flag could fly forever over democratic development.
The Ministry of Justice has repeatedly argued that the marriage system is protected by the Constitution, and that amendments to the law should take social development and public sentiment into consideration. Nevertheless, the legalization of diverse family formations across the world has proven that “marriage” and “family” are concepts that evolve, and that there is no such thing as so-called “heterosexual nature.” Therefore, I will have to keep fighting together with those who support marriage equality.
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said in an interview with the San Francisco Examiner last year that he hopes South Korea can be the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. Inspired by Ireland’s passing of the proposal, one can only hope that Taiwan we will see the same positive results.
David Weng is a probation assistant at the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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