Taiwan Becomes First Country In Asia To Accept Gay Marriage

Taiwan has legalised same sex marriages in what can be called a landmark verdict. This is the first country to accept gay marriage in Asia. The highest court has ruled on a constitutional challenge to current laws, which say that marriage is between a man and a woman. The parliament is now forced to amend the laws or pass new ones says the BBC

While India is still grappling with the decision of keeping the law in the bedrooms of consenting adults, Taiwan surged ahead with this mammoth victory for humanity - Harish Iyer

Taiwan's pioneering gay rights campaigner, Chi Chia-wei, is one of the petitioners who brought the case to the constitutional court. After 30 years of activism, Chi, 59, had said earlier that he was "100 percent confident" the ruling will go in his favour.

“The provisions of Chapter 2 on Marriage of Part IV on Family of the Civil Code do not allow two persons of the same sex to create a permanent union of intimate and exclusive nature for the committed purpose of managing a life together. The said provisions, to the extent of such failure, are in violation of both the people’s freedom of marriage as protected by Article 22 and the people’s right to equality as guaranteed by Article 7 of the Constitution.”

Taiwan is considered amongst the more progressive societies in Asia and so it doesn't come as surprise that the court has voted in favour of gay rights. Some of the movement was gaining traction since President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in May 2016. He has widely supported marriage equality.

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