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.
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
The Chinese wife of a Taiwanese, surnamed Liu (劉), who openly advocated for China’s use of force against Taiwan, would be forcibly deported according to the law if she has not left Taiwan by Friday, National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials said yesterday. Liu, an influencer better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), obtained permanent residency via marriage to a Taiwanese. She has been reported for allegedly repeatedly espousing pro-unification comments on her YouTube and TikTok channels, including comments supporting China’s unification with Taiwan by force and the Chinese government’s stance that “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.” Liu
FATE UNKNOWN: The owner of the dog could face a fine of up to NT$150,000 and the animal could be euthanized if he cannot show that he can effectively supervise it A pit bull terrier has been confiscated by authorities after it yesterday morning bit a motorcyclist in Taipei, following footage of the same dog in a similar attack going viral online earlier this month. When the owner, surnamed Hsu (徐), stopped at a red light on Daan District’s (大安) Wolong Street at 8am, the dog, named “Lucky,” allegedly rolled down the automatic window of the pickup truck they were riding in, leapt out of the rear passenger window and attacked a motorcyclist behind them, Taipei’s Daan District Police Precinct said. The dog clamped down on the man’s leg and only let go
RSS