TAIWAN: Taipei City Government To Ask Court To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

Asia One reports:

The Taipei City Government Department of Civil Affairs yesterday stated its decision to petition to the Constitutional Court to make a decision about whether the Constitution forbids the government from restricting marriage rights from same-sex couples and to seek a decision that would require the government to legalize same-sex marriage. Countries all over the world have started to legalize same-sex marriage, Civil Affairs officials said, citing a gradual change in values in the past years. However, when asked whether they supported the right of same-sex couples to marry during their confirmation hearings before the Legislative Yuan, four of the current grand justices of the Constitutional Court said they could not support such a right. In a democratic country, the guarantee of civil liberty is a major issue that governmental bodies must be aware of, but since the Constitutional Court has yet to hand down a decision regarding same-sex marriage, the Civil Affairs department has decided to appeal to the court. It is estimated that the documents supporting the appeal will be delivered to the Ministry of the Interior next week.

Taipei currently grants same-sex couples limited partnership rights. About 2.7 million live within the city limits of Taipei, with about 7.5 million in the metro area.