Taiwan legalises same-sex marriage

Taiwan’s parliament has become the first in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, in a landmark ruling.

Hundreds of gay rights supporters gathered outside the building in Taipei to await the ruling, according to the BBC.

In 2017, Taiwan’s constitutional court ruled that same-sex couples had the right to legally marry, giving parliament a two-year deadline to pass changes.

Following public backlash to the 2017 court ruling, the government held a referendum, which found that the majority of voters in Taiwan rejected legalising same-sex marriage.

Despite this, lawmakers debated three separate bills to legalise same-sex unions, with one of them ultimately passing. The other two referred to partnerships as “same-sex family relationships” or “same-sex unions” as opposed to “marriages”.

Last year, Australian MP Alex Greenwich encouraged Australians to support Taiwanese advocates in their efforts to rally support for marriage equality.

“For over a decade Australian Marriage Equality benefitted from international support to help us achieve reform, and now it’s our turn to pay it forward and return the favour,” he wrote in the Star Observer.

“Let’s support our mates in Taiwan and celebrate the one year anniversary of marriage equality in Australia by seeing love win in Taiwan.”