Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislators are scrambling in a “pro-China operatives” game, separately introducing prioritized bills, such as one aimed at relaxing restrictions on Chinese spouses of Taiwanese, which would reduce the number of years needed to become a naturalized citizen to four from six.
However, same-sex couples have been left by the wayside.
Today, Taiwanese can register their same-sex marriage with nationals from nearly any country, with the lone exception of China.
Due to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) and the strained relationship between Taiwan and China, same-sex marriages are closed off to cross-strait couples.
Taiwanese-Chinese same-sex marriages have fallen victim to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) policy of opposing everything related to China, creating a human rights orphan in the process. It is an unfortunate choice given the achievement of legalizing same-sex marriage under President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), both of the DPP, have written articles and talked about the hardships, courage and insight of legalizing same-sex marriage, yet they never mentioned the omission of this human rights angle on the issue.
Under the DPP-led administration, in which there is often discussion around resisting China and anti-China consciousness, cross-strait same-sex couples have been left in a bind where they are allowed to love, but not marry. The DPP has forgotten that human rights should transcend ideologies.
Meanwhile, the KMT and TPP are treating heterosexual Chinese spouses as their legislative baby, whether it be through candidacies such as the, ultimately withdrawn, TPP legislator-at-large nominee Xu Chunying (徐春鶯), seeking identity cards in advance, pursuing absentee voting or discussing allowing Chinese spouses to bring their relatives to Taiwan to use the nation’s healthcare system.
Yet neither of these opposition parties has brought up how marriage, a most basic human right, cannot be granted to same-sex Chinese spouses.
On multiple occasions, the TPP has proposed that its chairman, Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), fight for a constitutional interpretation if elected president, using this as an excuse to take credit for same-sex marriage policies and absolve the former Taipei mayor of his homophobic remarks.
Today, its best method for whitewashing is to immediately raise the issue of Taiwanese-Chinese same-sex marriage, but the TPP’s silence and inaction show how its members truly feel about minorities.
The KMT — the largest party in the legislature — should address the glaring omission of the DPP’s largest human rights failure. Questioning and doubting the ridiculousness of its stance on Taiwanese-Chinese same-sex marriage has the effect of highlighting the intentional neglect of marriage rights by Tsai and her administration. Yet, the KMT has also neglected to bring up the issue.
The KMT and TPP on the one hand roll out the welcome mat for heterosexual spouses, while on the other tightly slamming the door in the faces of same-sex Chinese spouses.
Apart from these two parties’ bills to loosen up the laws on Chinese spouses showing a superficial affinity for China, nobody has discussed how it builds a concealed homophobia within. For cross-strait same-sex couples, their wait for marriage includes even more dashed hopes and cruelty.
Kang Yunni works for a gender equality non-governmental organization.
Translated by Tim Smith
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