Control Yuan Vice President Chen Jinn-lih (陳進利) yesterday expressed his support for the legalization of same-sex marriage, which has been proposed by civic organizations, but so far has drawn a lukewarm response from the Ministry of Justice.
Same-sex marriage was discussed during one of a series of intergovernmental meetings to review the applicability of domestic laws to two UN human rights covenants in preparation for the country’s first national human rights report, which is expected in February next year.
“The initiative was proposed by several civil society representatives and I am of the opinion that this should be regarded as a vision for our country,” said Chen, who presided over the meeting that specifically focused on Article 23 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Despite the nation’s relatively conservative attitude toward homosexuality, this is an issue the government needs to face given the trend of legalizing same-sex marriages in other developed countries, he said.
Chen said that while he was personally opposed to same-sex marriage because of his Christian beliefs, he would nevertheless defend the right of homosexuals to get married.
“The gap between the rights of homosexuals in Taiwan and those in other countries should at least be mentioned in our national human rights report,” he said.
To implement the two human rights covenants, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) initiated a human rights commission under the Presidential Office and instructed it to release annual reports on the domestic state of human rights.
The first report, which will cover the time between 2009 and this year, is due in February, and the ministry’s Legal Affairs Committee will organize meetings for government agencies to consult with civil society representatives from various fields to review the draft report.
During a meeting at the end of last month, the ministry’s Department of Legal Affairs presented a draft paper that assessed how domestic laws and regulations conformed with the ICCPR, but it made no mention of same-sex marriage.
Article 23 of the ICCPR stipulates that “the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State,” and that “the right of men and women of marriageable age to marry and to found a family shall be recognized.”
Speaking by telephone, Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Shou-huang (陳守煌) said the ministry did not consider the concept of monogamous families, the only legally permitted type of marriage under the Civil Code, a violation of Article 23 of the ICCPR.
“Monogamous families have been what marriage is all about since time immemorial. It is recognized in most countries. How could this be in violation of the article?” he asked.
Chen Shou-huang said the ministry did not consider it necessary to review the Civil Code to accommodate same-sex marriage because there was not an overwhelming consensus on the issue.
“We do not think that the public has arrived at a consensus on the issue,” he said.
Fort Liao (廖福特), a legal research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institutum Iurisprudentiae who was invited to attend the meeting as a human rights expert, supported the initiative, saying it was “an issue that should be given serious thought.”
“It has been a fundamental belief in human rights that people should not be denied rights that others have just because they are a minority. The issue should be looked at from the view of rights, not religious beliefs or morality,” Liao said.
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