Activists call for laws to protect gay couples’ rights in Taiwan

Although most people take getting married and renting a house or office space for granted, it might not be so easy for gays and lesbians, activists said at a forum yesterday as they called on the government to adopt bills protecting homosexuals’ rights without delay.

“It’s been 10 years since the first gay marriage was held in public in Taipei, and we’ve taken to the streets to promote gay and lesbian rights several times over the past decade,” Wang Ping (王蘋), secretary-general of the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association in Taiwan, said at the forum on gay rights held in Taipei yesterday.

“Sadly, not much progress has been made in terms of legal rights for gays and lesbians,” Wang said.

Although marriage is not a requirement for having a relationship, it is an important element in the current family-oriented welfare system, she said.

For example, she said, married couples receive tax breaks and better mortgage rates, and are entitled to collect each other’s labor insurance payments or share common property.

“A human rights bill proposed eight years ago by [former president] Chen Shui-bian [陳水扁] still hasn’t passed the Cabinet review, and when we asked [President] Ma Ying-jeou’s [馬英九] government about it, officials answered that they were still studying it,” Wang said.

Wang proposed three ways in which legal rights may be granted to same-sex couples.

Activists call for laws to protect gay couples’ rights
Taipei Times, Taiwan -