More than 1,000 LGBT rights advocates and opponents yesterday demonstrated outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei ahead of a cross-caucus negotiation on bills related to same-sex marriage.
At today’s cross-caucus negotiation, legislators are to discuss three bills that would, respectively, legalize same-sex marriage, same-sex unions or a same-sex family member registration system.
While the first bill, proposed by the Executive Yuan, would apply most of the marriage rights stated in the Civil Code to same-sex couples, the other two, which are based on suggestions from conservative groups and are respectively proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), would offer fewer rights to same-sex couples.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
To back the Executive Yuan’s bill, more than 40 same-sex couples yesterday rallied in front of the Legislative Yuan, some bringing their children.
“The Executive Yuan’s version has made some compromises, but it would still help protect families such as mine by allowing people to adopt the biological child of their same-sex spouse,” said Jay Lin (林志杰), who is raising twin sons with his partner.
The other two bills would at best give same-sex parents temporary guardianship over their non-biological children, he said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
If those two bills were passed, “our family would be treated as a second-rate family,” he said.
Cindy, who with her partner of nine years is raising two children she conceived through artificial fertilization, said that her family is the same as every other.
“We love our children deeply. They are not missing anything in their life except for legal protection,” she said.
Should the Executive Yuan bill fail to pass, their children would not have a legal parent if she passed away, she said.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 protesters led by the Happiness of the Next Generation Alliance rallied on a neighboring street to oppose the bill.
More than 7 million people last year voted in favor of keeping the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, said alliance president Tseng Hsien-ying (曾獻瑩), who initiated the referendum.
“The referendum result cannot be changed by any legislator or even the president,” he said.
If the definition of marriage is altered, families, education and culture would face fundamental changes, he added.
The DPP has advocated for increased public participation in national policies through referendums, but now “only President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and the Council of Grand Justices are allowed to call the shots,” said Lai, who briefly joined the rally.
“There are only about a dozen grand justices, but we have more than 7 million people,” he added.
The Council of Grand Justices on May 24, 2017, declared the lack of language guaranteeing the right of same-sex couples to get married in the Civil Code unconstitutional, and required that a law or amendment be introduced to legalize same-sex marriage within two years.
The interpretation says that the legislature must pass a law or amendment to legalize same-sex marriage within two years, or it would be automatically legalized.
TAIWAN PROTECTION MEASURE: US Army General Charles Flynn would not say where in the Asia-Pacific the missiles would be sent, but only that they would arrive in 2024 The US is to send medium-range missiles including the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) and Tomahawk to the Asia-Pacific next year to deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan, US military news Web site Defense One reported. The report cited comments US Army General Charles Flynn made during the annual Halifax International Security Forum on Nov. 19. “We have tested them and we have a battery or two of them today,” Flynn was quoted as saying. “In [20]24. We intend to deploy that system in your region. I’m not going to say where and when. But I will just say that we will
LOYALTY: The 10 active and retired soldiers betrayed the nation and its people by leaking and passing on military secrets to China, the High Prosecutors’ Office said Ten former and current military officers were yesterday indicted on charges of spying for China, including two who allegedly filmed themselves pledging loyalty to Beijing. The High Prosecutors’ Office requested life imprisonment for the suspects in light of the severity of the crime. The 10 active-duty and retired officers included members of the 601st Brigade of the Aviation Special Forces comprising attack helicopter squadrons and elite combat units in charge of defending northern Taiwan, including Taipei. The other suspects came from Huadong Defense Command, in charge of defending the eastern coast; Kinmen Defense Command, in charge of defending Kinmen and Matsu; and one
NO FREE LUNCH: Taiwanese joining the trips to China met TAO and United Front Work officials who urged them to vote for candidates who support closer ties with Beijing The Ciaotou Prosecutors’ Office in Kaohsiung yesterday released two suspects on bail who have been accused of recruiting Taiwanese to join tours to China funded by Beijing and in which they were urged to vote for pan-blue candidates in January’s presidential and legislative elections. The pan-blue camp generally refers to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the People First Party, the New Party and the Young China Party, which support closer relations with China. Prosecutors said that a man, surnamed Cheng (鄭), and a woman, surnamed Yeh (葉), who are members of the China Pan-Blue Association, recruited Taiwanese tourists to join tours arranged
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday slammed a proposal by New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, to permit a “significant number” of Chinese students to study and work in Taiwan, saying it would be detrimental to young Taiwanese. At an event on Monday hosted by nine major industrial and business groups, Hou said that if elected, he would reinitiate cross-strait dialogue on the premise that Taiwan’s dignity would not be compromised and that the talks would be held in good faith. The talks would include lifting a ban on Chinese tour groups and
RSS