Taiwan on track to be 1st country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage
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Taiwan is on track to become the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage after its Constitutional Court ruled 24 May that provisions of the Civil Code forbidding such an act violate the people’s freedom of marriage and rights to equality as guaranteed by the Constitution. Relevant laws shall be amended or enacted in accordance with the ruling within two years, the court added.
Following the ruling, Premier Lin Chuan instructed the Ministries of Justice and the Interior to propose a bill for fast-tracked legislative review representing the greater public’s consensus on the issue and imposing minimal impact on society. The ruling is the court’s consolidated response to respective petitions filed by Chi Chia-wei, who began championing same-sex marriage in 1986, and the Taipei City Government. Of the 15 grand justices, 12 signed the ruling, one signed with a partial dissenting opinion, one dissented and one recused himself.
