Same-sex marriage is currently illegal in every country of a continent with over 4.4 billion people.
That astounding fact can change as soon as a few months from now as Taiwanese lawmakers work on three bills in support of marriage equality. President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s first female head of state, assumed office in May of this year and also supports same-sex marriage.
Additionally, about 80 percent of Taiwanese between ages 20 and 29 support same-sex marriage.
Photo: Associated Press/Chiang Ying-ying
“It’s a big step forward for the history of human rights,” said Yu Mei-nu, a ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker who is sponsoring the Taiwan same-sex marriage bill now in line for parliamentary debate.
“If Taiwan can get this passed … it will give other Asian countries a model.”
Having the majority of its population follow Buddhism and traditional Chinese religions that take no strong positions on sexual orientation or gay marriage is part of the reason Taiwan is on track to become the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. The country has also had a strong gender equality movement since the ’90s.
There are plenty of obstacles, of course. AP reports that a small minority of fundamentalist churches and conservative politicians strongly oppose same-sex marriage, and that its legalization would burden Taiwan’s welfare system and be tough on children who would find it difficult to socialize with children from more mainstream families.
If Taiwan moves forward with legalizing gay marriage, it will join 20 countries – including Canada – who have done so in the last 15 years.
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