Gay marriage advocates are calling for the central government to take steps to recognize same-sex relationships after the Taipei City Government on Wednesday became the second city in the nation to accept household registrations of same-sex partnerships.
Taipei’s move comes nearly one month after the Kaohsiung City Government began recognizing household registrations of same-sex partnerships.
Lu Hsin-chieh (呂欣潔), a candidate for the newly founded Social Democratic Party (Taiwan) in next year’s legislative election, called on the Legislative Yuan and the Ministry of Justice to recognize that with two local governments accepting registrations of same-sex partnerships, they are no longer taboo in Taiwanese society.
Photo: Reuters
The social activist added that a survey on changing attitudes toward homosexuality and same-sex marriage released by the Institute of Sociology of Academia Sinica last year indicates that Taiwanese society is ready to accept a same-sex marriage law.
While the local government registration is deemed in general as bearing more symbolic meaning than substantial benefits to same-sex couples, Lu suggested that the Taipei City Government include the household registration data in the National Health Insurance (NHI) data system, so that in the event of emergency surgery, a patient’s same-sex partner can sign a letter of consent.
She also proposed that the Taipei and Kaohsiung city governments set a precedent by entitling same-sex partners of their employees the rights and benefits of civil servant spouses.
Miao Bo-ya (苗博雅), another Social Democratic Party legislative candidate, said that despite household registration not being legally binding, same-sex partners can at least present it as proof of a close relationship in case of complicated legal disputes.
A lesbian herself, Miao said that she and her partner might register their relationship to judge the move’s effectiveness.
‘SHARING WITH ALL’: The Cabinet extended the monthly living allowance for low and middle-to-low income households until the end of this year, the premier said The government plans to give each Taiwanese a one-off cash payment of NT$6,000 (US$195.35) as a rebate from what has been described as surplus tax revenue, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday. The government would keep NT$40 billion of the NT$180 billion in surplus tax revenue in reserve and share the rest with the public, Su told reporters in Chiayi County. With the aim of “sharing the nation’s economic achievements with all citizens, young and old,” each Taiwanese would be given NT$6,000, Su said. It remains unclear whether foreign nationals residing in Taiwan who have paid taxes to the government would be included
NEW VARIANTS? The CECC would select samples from the positive cases with a lower cycle threshold value for genome sequencing to identify the virus strains The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said 146 people among 524 travelers from China, or 27.8 percent, tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival on Saturday. A temporary testing requirement for all travelers from China was launched on Saturday and the 524 passengers arrived in Taiwan on five direct flights from China. After undergoing a saliva polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, they were allowed to return home and practice self-disease prevention while waiting for the test results. Asked to comment on the test results, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is CECC spokesperson, said the policy had only been
OFFICIAL DELEGATION: Taipei ‘solemnly censures’ China’s ‘uncouth language’ and wolf warrior behavior in response to a visit by dignitaries, the government said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday criticized Beijing’s embassy in Seoul over “despicable” comments protesting a visit of a delegation to Taiwan last week led by South Korean National Assembly Deputy Speaker Chung Woo-taik. In a post on WeChat, an embassy spokesperson said that the lawmakers’ visit contravenes the “one China” principle and harms the development of friendly relations between China and South Korea. When referring to the visit, the spokesperson used the derogatory term cuan fang (竄訪), which equates the lawmakers to rats “scurrying” around. Beijing had used the term before when discussing then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit
POLICY UNCHANGED: The ‘commitments’ were laid out by Tsai Ing-wen in 2021, when she said Taiwanese are committed to defending sovereignty and democracy The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday urged Beijing to accept the “four commitments” touted by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), and give up its military coercion and trying to force Taiwan into a political framework, so that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait can resume friendly, healthy and orderly interactions. The council issued the remarks in response to a New Year’s message by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤), in which he was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying that he would have “wide and in-depth negotiations with people of vision in Taiwan on cross-strait relations and
RSS