Taiwan’s emergence as legally the most LGBT-positive jurisdiction in Asia seems to begin with Chen Shui-ban, first as mayor of Taipei and later as president. As mayor he sent a personal representative to the same-sex wedding of popular author Hsu Yoshen and his partner Gary Harriman in Taipei in November 1996. As president, he had the Ministry ofJustice draft legislation recognising marriage and adoption rights, but it was never enacted.
In a televised debate between candidates for the presidency in March, 2008, Ma Ying-Jeou, who won the subsequent election, noted that he had allocated funds for the gay pride events in Taipei when he had been mayor of the city, a policy that started in 1999. He boasted that ‘Taipei is the freest city to live in if you’re gay’. He stated that ‘sexual orientation is inborn and needs to be both respected and tolerated’. He said ‘gay rights are part of human rights’. On marriage, he planned to engage in public dialogue on the issue to generate understanding and consensus, saying he was ‘respectful but cautious’ on same-sex marriage. The candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party, Frank Hsieh, said that problems such as joint tax filings and adoption should be resolved ‘step by step’ before marriage could be considered (Hwang 2008). So far only one specific law applies to same-sex couples. The government has officially interpreted the Domestic Violence Prevention Act as applying to all cohabiting couples.
The first legislative hearing on legalising same-sex marriage occurred in Taipei in December 2012. There was discussion on whether an amendment to the Civil Code would be adequate, or whether other laws would need to be changed as well, such as those on taxation and health insurance (Reid-Smith 2013).
An opinion poll released in August 2013 indicated 53 per cent support for opening marriage, with 37 per cent opposed. For people under 30, support was 78 per cent and 66 per cent of those surveyed disagreed with the statement that homosexuality is contrary to religious beliefs (Potts 2013d). When two male-to-female transsexuals obtained a marriage license and were legally married in Taiwan (before one had documents changed), authorities quickly invalidated the marriage. After protests, authorities confirmed the marriage as legally valid (Fridae 2013c).