Taiwan is working towards becoming the first Asian country with legalized gay marriage. Taiwanese lawmakers are working on three separate bills in support of marriage equality and serious work is already underway.
With the strong support of the current Taiwanese President Tsai lng-wen, the momentum for change is strongly present among the populace. According to the Taiwan LGBT Family Rights Advocacy group, 80 percent of Taiwanese citizens, aged 20 to 29, support same-sex marriage.
While there has been a general acceptance of gay and lesbian relationships in Taiwan since the early 1990s, same-sex marriages still remain illegal in the country. The three bills that are being drafted are here to change that.
When the bill takes effect, Taiwan would join Canada, United States, Ireland, Columbia, and 16 other nations that have legalized gay marriages in the last two decades. However, Taiwan would still be the first nation in Asia and the Middle East to pass legislation supporting marriage equality for same-sex relationships.
“It’s a big step forward for the history of human rights,” said Yu Mei-nu, a Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker sponsoring the same-sex marriage bill. “If Taiwan can get this passed … it will give other Asian countries a model,” added Yu Mei-nu.
Good on you Taiwan!
Personally, I think it’s absolutely fantastic and it just makes sense. From a realistic point of view, same-sex marriage can be a very effective tool for managing the overpopulation problem that is rampant in many Asian countries. Secondly, it’s hard to imagine the kind of hoops gay parents have to jump through just to get the rights that regular parents and other citizens enjoy. The argument that gay and same-sex marriages will somehow “destroy the moral fabric of a family” has been debunked a number of times with studies showing that having gay parents are not detrimental towards the upbringing of children (duh, like that even needed to be studied). Having gay parents will not magically make the children gay as well (looking at most of you critics).
For parents like Su Shan and her partner that are raising twins together, legal same-sex marriage would make their lives richer and less stressful. “If something happens to the child, the other partner is nothing but a stranger,” said Su. Being that only one of the women is the legal parent, the other parent could be forced to give the kids for adoption under the present laws.
Think about that for a second
And now think about this – why has it been taking so long to say that gay people are still people? They are citizens and as such must have the same freedoms and rights that the rest of us have.
India, if you really want to become a super power in the future, start ramping up your work on fixing archaic legislation. You are better than that.
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http://edtimes.in/2016/02/lgbt-section-377/
http://edtimes.in/2016/10/eds-poster-series-celebrating-pride-love-lgbtq-and-moonlight/
