臺灣成為亞洲第一個同性婚姻合法化的國家
Taiwan Becomes First Nation in Asia to
Legalize Same-sex Marriage
by Theodore Pigott, special correspondent
It
certainly has been a roller-coaster ride for those in favor of same-sex
marriage in Taiwan. For years, proponents of equal marriage rights fought for
marriage equality. Then, in May of 2017, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court passed a
ruling that stated that under the Constitution of the Republic of China,
same-sex couples have the right to get married in Taiwan. Taiwan’s Legislative
Yuan was then given two years to update the country’s marriage laws to bring
them in line with the ruling.
Not
everyone was pleased with these developments, however. Some Christian groups
and conservatives held rallies to oppose same-sex marriage in Taiwan. At the
same time, the government seemed to be slow to take any steps forward. The
fight for same-sex marriage in Taiwan reached its nadir in November of 2018,
when voters in Taiwan overwhelmingly supported referendums that objected to
same-sex marriage as well as LGBTQ education in schools.
Without a
doubt, the results of these referendums shocked many people. After all, Taiwan
has the largest gay pride parade in Asia, and the LGBTQ community appeared to
enjoy widespread support in many parts of Taiwan, in particular Taipei. Yet,
the 2018 referendums seemed to indicate that perhaps the general population in
Taiwan may have been more conservative and less supportive of same-sex marriage
than many had believed.
Nevertheless,
the government in Taiwan decided to go forward with updating the country’s
marriage laws, in accordance with the Constitutional Court’s ruling. In
February of 2019, a bill giving equal rights to same-sex married couples was
passed by the Executive Yuan. A few months later, on May 17, this bill was passed
by the Legislative Yuan, to the cheers of the thousands of same-sex marriage
supporters who had gathered in the rain to celebrate the historic moment.
Perhaps
Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen summed it up best with a hashtag in her tweet:
“#LoveWon!”
這段日子對臺灣的同性婚姻支持者而言，就像搭雲霄飛車一般地大起大落。提倡婚姻平權的人們為此奮鬥多年，後來大法官會議在2017年5月做出裁決，聲明受中華民國憲法保障的臺灣同性伴侶有結婚的權利，並要求立法院在兩年內完成相關婚姻法規的修改，以配合落實此一裁決。
然而，並非所有的人都樂見這樣的發展。有些基督教團體以及保守人士在臺灣發起反同婚集會。與此同時，政府似乎也遲遲未採取任何更進一步的行動。2018年11月時，臺灣同婚運動的氣勢來到谷底，當時臺灣選民以壓倒性的票數，通過了反對同婚、反對學校實施同志教育的公投案。
這樣的公投結果無疑震驚了許多人，畢竟臺灣有亞洲最大的同志遊行活動，而且同志族群看似在臺灣許多地方（尤其是臺北）享有廣泛支持，但從2018年的公投看來，或許臺灣民眾可能還是比較保守、並不像許多人以為的那麼支持同性婚姻。
不過，臺灣政府決定依照大法官會議的裁決修改婚姻法規。一項賦予同婚伴侶平等權利的法案於2019年2月由行政院敲定，並在幾個月後的5月17日 由立法院三讀通過。成千上萬的同婚支持者在雨中一起為這歷史性的一刻齊聲歡呼。
也許臺灣的蔡英文總統在其推特上的標註正為此做了最好的總結：#LoveWon！
文章來源：三民英文學習網 新聞宅急通vol.301
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