Taiwan’s giant step toward allowing same-sex marriage has reverberated across Asia, but advocates say the fight for equality is not over in a region where gay sex remains illegal in some countries.
Challenges to an Asia-wide embrace of same-sex unions were highlighted by this week’s caning of two Indonesian men as punishment for gay sex and a South Korean military court’s jailing of a soldier for having intercourse with another man.
In China, two men last year lost a court battle to get married.
However, advocates are hopeful that the push for marriage rights will be reinvigorated by the Council of Grand Justice’s decision, which paves the way for the nation to become the first place in Asia to allow same-sex couples to tie the knot.
The council on Wednesday ruled that laws preventing same-sex unions violated the Constitution’s guarantees of freedom of marriage and gave the government two years to implement the decision.
“We’re very happy,” said Vuong Kha Phong, a rights assistant at iSEE advocacy group in Vietnam. “This is a historic victory for the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] groups in Asia.”
Gay marriage is legal in only about 20 countries around the world, 13 of which are in Europe.
New Zealand also allows same-sex couples to legally marry.
Taiwan is seen as one of the most progressive societies in Asia when it comes to gay rights.
“While I think it is still a long way to the equality dominos falling all over Asia, I think a few East Asian countries, such as Japan and Vietnam, may be more ready to consider equality legislation,” Hong Kong’s first openly gay lawmaker Ray Chan Chi-chuen (陳志全) told reporters. “I can foresee many couples in Hong Kong will try to get married in Taiwan. When they return home, they will press the government and even the private sector for recognizing them, because the current laws, policies and rules are blatantly discriminatory.”
In Vietnam, which is seen as socially progressive on LGBT issues and where a vibrant gay scene flourishes online and in some big cities, hopes for marriage reform have stalled.
However, Phong said the Taiwanese ruling “will give us momentum to mobilize the community to take action — to do something so that gay marriage can be considered when lawmakers discuss changing the marriage law in 2020.”
Gay rights advocates in China expressed optimism that their country’s cultural connections with Taiwan could help their efforts to change the law on same-sex nuptials.
Homosexuality was officially decriminalized in China in 1997, but only taken off the list of psychiatric disorders four years later.
“Taiwan and mainland China have the same roots and culture, so it suggests that Chinese society could also accept the idea of gay marriage,” said Li Yinhe (李銀河), a renowned Chinese sexologist who has pressed Beijing policymakers on the issue.
There have been small signs of progress. While a Chinese court last year ruled against two men seeking to marry, that the case even made it into the judicial system was seen by many as an achievement.
“I am very happy and very excited that homosexual marriage is legalized in Taiwan. It’s a pity that the mainland has not taken this step,” said Sun Wenlin (孫文麟), one of the men in the case. “But I’m optimistic about the legalization of same-sex marriage in China.”
Elisabeth Lund Engebretsen, a senior lecturer at the University of Oslo’s Center for Gender Research, said the ruling “creates a momentum for putting this on the table as a political issue” in Asia.
South Korea allows homosexual acts between civilians, but not military personnel and a high-profile legal challenge to the country’s ban on same-sex marriage in 2015 by movie director Kim Jho Gwang-soo and his long-time partner, Kim Seung-hwan, failed.
“People say that it’s too early for our society to handle, but I think if there is an open debate about the troubles of sexual minorities, then I hope South Korean society can also walk a similar path,” Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea’s Lee Na-ra said.
Before they can consider marriage, advocates must win other battles in places such as India, Singapore and Indonesia’s Aceh Province, where gay sex is still outlawed.
“Legally we are not even pressing for gay marriage now. We are being denied our fundamental right,” said Manvendra Singh Gohil, one of India’s most vocal gay rights advocates. “We have to go step by step.”
FLYBY: The object, appears to be traveling more than 60 kilometers per second, meaning it is not bound by the sun’s orbit, astronomers studying 3I/Atlas said Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through the solar system — only the third-ever spotted, although scientists suspect many more might slip past unnoticed. The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas, is likely the largest yet detected, and has been classified as a comet, or cosmic snowball. “It looks kind of fuzzy,” said Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, which was responsible for the official confirmation. “It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail.” Originally known as A11pl3Z before
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
‘CONTINUE TO SERVE’: The 90-year-old Dalai Lama said he hoped to be able to continue serving ‘sentient beings and the Buddha Dharma’ for decades to come The Dalai Lama yesterday said he dreamed of living for decades more, as the Buddhist spiritual leader prayed with thousands of exiled Tibetans on the eve of his 90th birthday. Thumping drums and deep horns reverberated from the Indian hilltop temple, as a chanting chorus of red-robed monks and nuns offered long-life prayers for Tenzin Gyatso, who followers believe is the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Looking in good health, dressed in traditional maroon monk robes and a flowing yellow wrap, he led prayers — days after confirming that the 600-year-old Tibetan Buddhist institution would continue after his death. Many exiled Tibetans
BRICS leaders are to meet in Rio de Janeiro from today, with the bloc depleted by the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who is skipping the annual summit of emerging economies for the first time in 12 years. The grouping meets as its members face imminent and costly tariff wars with the US. Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be dominated by Beijing, which grew much faster and larger than the rest. China has not said why Xi would miss the summit, a first since he became president in 2013. “I expect there
RSS