Taiwan First in Asia Legalizes Same-Sex Marriages

The Taiwan Parliament has legalized same-sex marriages today, the French press reported, quoted by NOVA TV. 

This is the first such case in Asia. Parliament legalized same-sex marriages for two years after the Taiwan Constitutional Court ruled in May 2017 that they did not contradict the Taiwanese constitution.

 Before the vote, thousands of gay marriage supporters gathered at a parade in front of the parliament.

Taiwanese lawmakers have approved a law allowing homosexual couples to enter into a marriage union and ask the administration to be included in the register of married couples.

Taiwan's acceptance of homosexual ties began in the 1990s, when leaders of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party today promoted the cause for Taiwan to be recognized as an open society in Asia.

In 2017, Taiwan's constitutional court ruled that same-sex couples had the right to legally marry.

It said then that the island had two years to make necessary changes to the law.

But this was met with a public backlash, which pressured the government into holding a series of referendums.

The referendum results showed that a majority of voters in Taiwan rejected legalising same-sex marriage, saying that the definition of marriage was the union of a man and woman.

As a result, Taiwan said it would not alter its existing definition of marriage in civil law, and instead would enact a special law for same-sex marriage, writes BBC. 

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