Legalization Of The Same-Sex Marriage In Taiwan?

There is an on-going oral argument in the case being heard by the Supreme Court of Taiwan as of the time of this writing.

And what is the legal issue to be resolved in this case? The issue to be resolve is whether or not to allow same-sex marriages in Taiwan.

In the event that the Supreme Court of Taiwan will allow same-sex marriages then Taiwan will be the first country in Asia to legalize the same.

Constitutional And Legal Issue

The petition was filed by gay activist Chi Chia-wei before the Supreme Court of Taiwan which sought to declare the provision on the Taiwan’s Civil Code which says that “marriage is between a man and a woman” to be unconstitutional.

There is also a proposed bill in the Taiwan’s Parliament to legalized same-sex marriage which is already on its second reading.

In any society, the issue of same-sex marriage is divisive and controversial more so within the context of the Asian culture which is more conservative in contrast with that of the West.

It is indeed a very divisive issue in Taiwan for outside the building of the Supreme Court there are on-going demonstrations between those groups who are in favor and those who are against same-sex-marriage.

Possible Case Outcome

   There are only two possibilities on how the Taiwan Supreme Court may resolve the case.

First, the Supreme Court may dismiss the petition and declare that the legal provision in the Taiwan Civil Code that marriage is between a man and a woman as constitutional or legal.

Another possibility is that the Supreme Court may declare the legal provision of the Civil Code of Taiwan to be unconstitutional and in so doing indirectly allowing same-sex marriage.

In the event that the Supreme Court will eventually dismiss the case as not impress with merits, then there is still hope on the part of the pro same-sex marriage group if the Taiwan Parliament eventually passed a law allowing it.

Either way, Taiwan is now on its legal and constitutional cross-road with respect to this social issue. Truly, such issue has shaken and will continue to shake the very foundation of marriage and the family as well as society now and in the future.

It used to be that marriage was exclusively between a man and a woman but nowadays with the legalization of same-sex marriage in some States in the U.S. and in other parts of the world, for sure there will be other Asian country that may follow suit.

There are at least 21 countries in the world where same-sex marriage is lawful, namely: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South America, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States.

Any possible outcome of the instant case in Taiwan could be a precedent setting case for Asia.

It is most likely that there will be many gay and lesbian rights activists in other parts of Asia that will follow suit in their respective countries the moment that the Taiwan Supreme Court issued a favorable ruling to allow same-sex-marriage.

Image source: http://mashable.com/2014/06/13/lgbt-pride-symbols/#sdH89AL7agqC