Though it may be some time before same-sex marriages are legal in Taiwan, a blessing for homosexual couples was arranged by a church yesterday.
Yesterday's service was the first of its kind to be held by a religious group and to bestow benediction to gay couples.
"It was not a wedding ceremony because marrying gay couples is still unlawful in Taiwan," said Elias Tseng, pastor of Tong-Kwang Light House Presbyterian Church (同光同志長老教會).
"The service was held to grant a blessing, and give support and strength from God to the homosexual partners in attendance, whose affection to their loved ones is discouraged in society.
"The ceremony has allowed them to leave their original families to share residence with their loved ones under the testimony of Jesus Christ," Tseng said.
The date of the ceremony was chosen to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the church. The couples -- which consisted of four pairs of females and one pair of males -- were in their 20s and 30s.
Close friends of the couple were in attendance at the ritual, which took place at a secret address. Guests were screened beforehand and guided to the church's location.
Tseng said despite the efforts of his church, homosexuals were still strongly discriminated against by Christians. He said most of the people attending yesterday's service had a Christian background.
Even so, Tseng said, of the 10 individuals that were blessed only one had told his family of his sexual orientation.
Tong-Kwang Light House Presbyterian Church was founded in 1995 by minister Yang Ya-hui (
A heterosexual, Yang said she had established the church to challenge the Gospels. She said the Bible was certainly written by heterosexuals as gays were reproached in the Bible.
"But does that mean it is God who does not accept gays, or is it that the writers of the Bible did not accept gays?" she said.
Yang said she did not mean to attack God when she challenged the Bible's doctrines. Rather, she said, she was against people who hold prejudiced social values.
In Taiwan, the right to marriage has not been a focus of the gay and lesbian human rights movement.
But in 1996, the issue was highlighted when a wedding took place between Taiwanese writer Hsi You-sheng (
Though it was seen as a landmark step for the nation's gay rights movement, the couple did not register their marriage with the government, even though the vast majority of heterosexual couples in Taiwan do.
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