Taiwan's top court has ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the constitution (AFP Photo/Chris STOWERS) |
Taiwan will decide whether to pass Asia's first gay marriage law on Friday as conservative lawmakers launch a last-ditch attempt to scupper the bill despite a court ruling ordering same-sex marital equality.
Protesters
on both sides of the debate will gather outside Taipei's parliament for what
looks set to be a mammoth legislative debate over an issue that has bitterly
divided the island.
Parliament
is up against a ticking clock.
Taiwan's
top court has ruled that not allowing same-sex couples to marry violates the
constitution. Judges gave the government two years to make necessary changes by
May 24, 2019 or see marriage equality enacted automatically.
With that
deadline fast approaching, three bills have been tabled for Friday -- which
also happens to be the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and
Biphobia.
The most progressive
is the government's bill, the only one to use the word "marriage" and
offer limited adoption rights.
Opponents
warn that "forcefully" passing a gay marriage law will intensify
tensions (AFP Photo/Daniel Shih)
|
It is
backed -- begrudgingly -- by gay rights groups who see it as the closest thing
to full equality with heterosexual couples, despite its limitations.
Opponents
have tabled two other versions which avoid the word marriage, offering
something closer to same-sex unions with no adoption rights.
Conservative
and religious groups have been buoyed by a series of referendum wins in
November, in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as
anything other than a union between a man and a woman.
President
Tsai Ing-wen has said the government's bill respects both the court judgement
and the referendum.
"I
hope everybody can be considerate and tolerate different opinions to show
Taiwan is a mature civil society that is capable of handling a divisive
issue," she said on Tuesday.
Tsai's ruling
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) holds the majority in parliament, occupying
68 out of 113 seats.
Taiwan's
LGBT community has been left in limbo
the last two years (AFP Photo/SAM YEH)
|
But there
is no guarantee her own lawmakers will vote for the more progressive bill,
especially as many fear being punished by conservative voters at the ballot box
in January.
One of the
rival bills was proposed by a DPP lawmaker.
Taiwan's
LGBT community has been left in limbo the last two years, with many couples
planning weddings ahead of the May 24th deadline but unsure of what marriage
equality will look like.
"We
will have a clear answer this week about how this country will treat gay
couples in the future," said Jennifer Lu, a spokeswoman for Marriage
Equality Coalition Taiwan.
"The
cabinet's bill is already a discounted version but it covers the most for now.
The other bills are not only unconstitutional but discriminatory."
Opponents
warn that "forcefully" passing a gay marriage law will intensify
tensions.
"The
cabinet's bill ignores the referendum results and that is unacceptable,"
said Lai Shyh-bao of the opposition Kuomintang party, who proposed one of the
bills backed by conservatives.
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