In a historic judgment, Taiwan's constitutional court ‘Judicial Yuan’ today legalised same-sex marriage, becoming the first Asian country to do so.
The court said current marriage laws were "in violation of both the people’s freedom of marriage ... and the people’s right to equality", and it gave two years for legal amendments to allow same-sex marriage.
"If relevant laws are not amended or enacted within the said two years, two persons of the same sex who intend to create the said permanent union shall be allowed to have their marriage registration effectuated," the court adds.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights activists had harboured high hopes their years of campaigning for same-sex marriage would win the court's backing.
Major parts of Asia have hold of attitudes of being socially conservatives, but Taiwan has a reputation as a beacon of liberalism in the region.
"Furthermore, the freedom of marriage for two persons of the same sex, once legally recognised, will constitute the collective basis, together with opposite-sex marriage, for a stable society," it said.
Talking about LGBT rights in other Asian countries;
- In Brunei, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen homosexual activity is punished with the death penalty
- Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Nepal, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Cyprus (excluding Northern Cyprus) are the most open to the LGBT community in the continent.
- Japan, Israel and Nepal are the major players in legislation.
- In India, Supreme court will be reviewing Article 377, which criminalizes the homosexuality, while the Parliament voted out the decriminalisation bill brought by Shashi Tharoor in 2015.
Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province, has a famous annual gay pride parade that showcases the vibrancy of its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
