What was usually a calm, nondescript building burst to life one normal day in May. In Taipei’s Xinyi District Household Registration Office, 526 couples dressed in bright colors lined up to be among the first to marry their partner—their same-sex partner.
A historic moment occurred last May 17—Taiwan’s legislators voted to legalize same-sex marriage, becoming the first country in Asia to recognize non-heterosexual relationships. This followed after a long, hard fight for LGBTQ+ rights in a region known for harboring strong conservative opinions on same-sex couples.
A week later, last May 24, couples flocked registration offices to tie the knot and exercise their hard-earned legal right to be with their partners.
A long hard fight
Despite being considered as one of the most progressive Asian countries when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, the country still found it difficult to pass the law as it was.
On May 24, 2017, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled that the existing marriage law, which only recognized marriage to be between a man and a woman, was unconstitutional violating Taiwan’s LGBTQ+ citizens’ human rights. This came after Chi Chia-wei, an LGBTQ+ rights activist, brought forward a case to the court on whether Taiwan’s Civil Code allowed for same-sex marriage, and whether its disallowance of it violated the constitution.
The court gave the Legislative Yuan two years to either amend the current marriage law or enact new laws to cater to same-sex couples. Should legislators fail to act until then, the ruling said, same-sex couples would automatically receive the same rights as heterosexual couples, allowing them to register their marriage. The law was passed a week before the deadline.
There were three different versions of the bill proposed, with the one backed by the majority Democratic Progressive Party passing into law. The other two bills were backed by conservative lawmakers.
However, the current bill is not without its limits. Gay couples would not be allowed to jointly adopt children unless they are biological children of one of the partners, for instance. Further, same-sex marriages with foreigners would only be recognized if the home country of the foreign partner also recognizes same-sex marriages.
The fight elsewhere
While this is a historic win for the LGBTQ+ community in Taiwan and in the region, the rights of the community face danger elsewhere. Brunei enacted a law this year that imposed a death penalty by stoning against those convicted of homosexual acts and adultery. After facing international backlash, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah put it on hold.
Countries like Yemen, Iran, and Afghanistan still enforce laws that prohibit any kind of homosexual activity, often with the punishment of death. Even China, which discounted homosexuality as a mental disorder in 2001, still discriminates against individuals found to be homosexual or belonging to the LGBTQ+ community. India only recently decriminalized homosexuality in 2018, overturning a 157-year old law that categorized gay sex as an “unnatural offense”.
In the Philippine context
Members of the LGBTQ+ community in the Philippines have long lobbied for same-sex unions. Most recently, in May 2015, lawyer Jesus Falcis III asked the Supreme Court (SC) to lift the prohibition against same-sex marriage as stipulated in the 1987 Family Code.
Articles 1 and 2 of the code explicitly states that marriages must be between a man and a woman, which Falcis argued ran counter to constitutional provisions on equal treatment. The 1949 Civil Code, he argued, which was repealed by the 1987 Family Code, never made that distinction. It would take three years before oral arguments on the petition would take place, during which former Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio argued that it was unconstitutional.
Legislative means have also been taken, with bills filed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate currently in the works. Back in 2016, then House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez pushed for a bill institutionalizing civil unions, which he filed in 2017 as the Civil Partnership Act or House Bill 6595. Bataan Representative Geraldine Roman, the first openly transgender woman in Congress, was one of its co-authors.
Renewed interest in the bill sparked after Taiwan’s historic legal win, with an online poll on same-sex unions conducted by Congress made rounds on social media, sparking mixed responses from Filipinos. As of writing, almost half a million people have answered the poll, with roughly 56 percent in favor of a bill legalizing same-sex unions.
Many people have voiced their complaints on having the rights of the LGBTQ+ community reduced to an informal online poll. As a significant number of those who dissent with the bill speak from a religious perspective, they argue that human rights should not be reduced to the morality of religion and that the separation between Church and State should be upheld.
While the issue divides the country still, activities in support of the community such as the Metro Manila Pride March, will still push through. First established in 1994, the event is now considered the oldest and largest in Southeast Asia, and drew in more than 25,000 attendees in 2018. This year, the march is set to be held on June 29 at the Marikina Sports Center as part of the annual celebration of June—the Pride Month.
But even after Pride, no matter how grueling, the fight for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community marches on.
