Taiwan lawmakers votes in favor of same-sex marriage

Taiwan has legalized same-sex marriage and becomes the first Asian country to take the move. Its constitutional court ruled in 2017 that such couples had right to marry legally.

Parliament of the island was given a deadline of two years by the court that ends on May 24. Within the period lawmakers were tasked to pass the changes.

With the announcement lawmakers have passed the same-sex marriage bill on Friday gay rights supporters in thousands gathered outside the parliament building in capital city Taipei.

However, all in Taiwan is not happy and conservative opponents showed anger as the new law limits adoption rights.

The bill was passed in the parliament by 66 to 27 votes. President Tsai Ing-wen will be signing the bill to make it a law.

According to Jennifer Lu, chief co-ordinator of rights group Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan, she is happy and its an important moment in her life.

She added, “However, it’s still not full marriage rights; we still need to fight for co-adoption rights, and we are not sure about foreigner and Taiwanese marriage, and also gender equality education.”

Gay pastor Elias Tseng said the outcome is not completely perfect, but looks good for the gay community for providing a legal definition to same-sex marriage.