A daily breakdown of Taiwan’s top stories and why they matter.
The News Lens
Date: 2019/03/04
By: TNL Daily News
Credit: Reuters / Nicky Loh
Canadian diplomat and LGBT+ advocate Michael McCulloch told CNA Taiwan’s move to legalize gay marriage, via a newly submitted draft bill, is a global victory – but a challenge from opponents of same-sex marriage has emerged within Taiwan’s legislature.
McCulloch, who is the director of general relations at the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei – Canada’s de facto embassy in Taiwan – called the draft legislation “a win for the people of the world,” comparing Taiwan’s long fight to legalize same-sex marriage to the process Canada went through between 2003 and 2005, when the North American country passed legislation to legalize same-sex marriage.
However, Mirror Media reported on Mar. 2 that groups opposed to marriage equality plan to propose legislation, titled “The Enforcement Act of Referendum No. 12,” that would define same-sex unions as non-marital relationships and limit such unions to citizens who are at least 20 years old. The draft bill is backed by 29 legislators, Mirror Media reports.
Referendum No. 12, which voters approved in November 2018, read: “Do you agree to types of unions, other than those stated in the marriage regulations in the Civil Code, to protect the rights of same-sex couples who live together permanently?” [FULL STORY]
