Taiwan opens its door to same-sex marriage. Thousands of people in support of gay right showed up at the parliament to witness this historic event. President Tsai Ing-wen said, “We took a big step towards true equality, and made Taiwan a better country.” And truly they did!
Taiwan becomes the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. The bill that was passed will allow gay couples to enter into “exclusive permanent unions.”
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on May 24, 2019, Marc Yuan and Shane Lin were the first couple to get married. LGBT activist Chi Chia-Wei signed their marriage and made it officially the first same-sex marriage in Taiwan. It is said that he also used the pen gifted by President Tsai to mark the historic occasion.
#Taiwan legendary lgbt activist Chi Chia-wei signs first same-sex marriage certificate in Asia using pen gifted by President Tsai to mark the historic occasion pic.twitter.com/1NseU5y5RP
— Rik Glauert (@RikGlauert) May 24, 2019
Chi also mentioned that the fight was not over as they still need to extend this right to transnational couples who are not able to legally register.
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Victoria Hsu who is the founder and executive director of the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights said, “The law is not 100% perfect, but this is a good start and this is a major step to end discrimination based on sexual orientation. Now the law says everyone should be treated equally no matter who you are, who you love.”
What Taiwan has achieved was not easy for them. It was years of struggle and fighting for their right. But in the end, Love Triumphs!