Focus Taiwan
Date:\ 02/22/2020
By: Yu Hsiang and Ko Lin

Taipei, Feb. 22 (CNA) A total of 2,939 gay couples got married in Taiwan in 2019, after it became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, according to Ministry of the Interior (MOI) statistics released Saturday.

The majority of same-sex marriages registered between May 24, when the historic legislation took effect, and the end of the year were in New Taipei, Taipei and Kaohsiung, the MOI data showed.

New Taipei led with the registration of 614 same-sex marriages, followed by Taipei with 484 and Kaohsiung 396, according to the statistics.

Nationwide, the 2,939 same-sex marriages were between 928 male couples and 2,011 female partners, the data showed.

Heterosexual marriages, meanwhile, totaled 131,585 for the year, with Taiwanese couples accounting for 113,308, or 84.24 percent, according to the MOI statistics    [FULL  STORY]