Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/08
By: Christie Chen and Chen Chun-hua
Taipei, Nov. 8 (CNA) Two draft amendments to Taiwan’s Civil Code that are aimed at legalizing same-
sex marriage passed their first reading at the Legislative Yuan Tuesday.
Clearing a first reading means only that the draft amendments have been announced and then sent to the Legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee for discussion. The amendments still have to pass second and third readings before becoming law.
Before Tuesday’s legislative meeting, several lawmakers from the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) occupied the podium in the Legislative Yuan to protest against the amendments, but after lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) approached them to communicate, the KMT lawmakers voluntarily left the podium before Vice Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) appeared to preside over the meeting.
One of the amendments that passed a first reading was proposed by DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女), while the other was proposed by KMT Legislator Hsu Yu-jen (許毓仁). [FULL STORY]