The Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights (TAPCPR), along with legislators and human rights groups, yesterday called for freedom of marriage for all cross-national same-sex couples, instead of each case being decided by the courts.
The Taipei High Administrative Court on July 21 ruled that same-sex partners Lu Yin-jen (盧盈任), a Taiwanese, and Eizaburo Ariyoshi, a Japanese, should not have been barred from registering their marriage at a local household registration office.
The court revoked a decision by the office to reject an application that the couple had filed on May 7 last year, citing Article 8 of the Act Governing the Choice of Law in Civil Matters Involving Foreign Elements (涉外民事法律適用法), which stipulates that a foreign law is not applicable if it violates the public order or good morals of Taiwan.
Photo: Liao Chen-hui, Taipei Times
TAPCPR secretary-general Chien Chih-chieh (簡至潔) said it was the fourth case in which the court has ruled in favor of cross-national same-sex couples.
However, the Ministry of the Interior still says that according to Article 46 of the act, the formation of a marriage is governed by the law of each party’s country of nationality, she said.
Based on the precedent set by Lu and Ariyoshi and the three earlier cases, all cross-national same-sex couples’ marriage registrations should be accepted, Chien said.
New Power Party Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) said if the court has ruled that local household registration offices should accept same-sex marriage applications, even if they involve a national from a state in which same-sex marriage is not recognized, then the contradicting article of the act should be amended.
Before the amendment is passed, the ministry should notify the offices that they should accept such applications, she added.
Allison, a Taiwanese who is working in Japan and living with her Japanese partner and their eight-month-old child, said that she and her partner hope to settle down in Taiwan, but their right to residency is not protected, as they cannot register their marriage in either country.
The future of their family is filled with uncertainty, and she is afraid that they might be separated at any moment, she said.
Amnesty International Taiwan campaign manager Pan Yi (潘儀) shared her own experience of being unable to get married with her Malaysian partner, who she has been with for seven years.
She said that hundreds of cross-national same-sex couples live with the fear of suddenly being forced to separate.
As Taiwan is the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, many supporters around the world are following developments in the nation, so the government should choose love over hatred and discrimination, and allow people to get married, irrespective of their nationality, she said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS