Taiwan's top court has declared that a marriage should not be restricted to a man and a woman, paving the way for the island to be the first in Asia to allow same-sex couples to tie the knot.
Cheers broke out outside the legislature yesterday as the Constitutional Court ruled that the island's civil law, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection.
The ruling means that Taiwan's legislature will have to amend the civil law or enact laws pertaining to same-sex couples within two years.
The court's ruling came about after gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei, 59, challenged the Taipei city government's rejection of the marriage application for him and his long- time partner in 2013.
With the landmark ruling, Taiwan looks poised to join Canada, Colombia, Ireland, Brazil, the United States and 16 other territories that have legalised same-sex marriage over the past 15 years.
In a first, English and Chinese versions of the 14-member panel's interpretation of the law were published online on the Judicial Yuan's website yesterday, reflecting worldwide interest in the case.
Despite the breakthrough, activists say there is still much work to be done. Taiwan's legislature will have to deliberate over whether to change the civil code or enact a new law for gay and lesbian couples.
Homosexual couples hope for the former as this would give them the same rights enjoyed by their heterosexual peers in areas such as adoption, parenting and inheritance. A separate law on same-sex marriages may not guarantee equal treatment in all matters.
Even if lawmakers do not meet the court's two-year deadline, the court said same-sex couples could register to marry based on its ruling.
Yesterday's decision will give a boost to long-running efforts by activists since the 1980s to push for marriage equality. The latest proposals to amend the civil code have been stalled since last December.
Software engineer Cindy Su, 36, tied the knot with her partner in Canada in 2014, and they hope to marry again in Taiwan.
But Ms Su added: "There will still be a lot to sort out and convince people that this is the right thing to do."
Kuomintang legislator Jason Hsu, a proponent of gay marriage, noted that marriage equality is not a foregone conclusion.
He said: "Since the legalisation of same-sex marriage is still an uncertainty, it requires immediate action from the government and the legislature in the near future. I hope the government and my fellow legislators can face this issue directly and fearlessly, rather than avoiding it."
Yesterday, after the ruling was announced, supporters of same-sex marriage sang, danced and waved rainbow flags outside Taiwan's legislature, even as some in the opposing camp shed tears of anger and slammed the decision.
Conservative and religious groups have argued that allowing same-sex unions would destroy family values. A poll by think-tank Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation last year showed the public evenly split on the issue.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing- wen, who voiced support for same- sex marriage during her election campaign, called for unity: "Regardless of your position on marriage, this is the moment that we see each other as brothers and sisters."
