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| Huang Mei-yu, left, and her partner You Ya-ting are greeted by Buddhist nun Shih Chao-hui before they take part in Taiwan's first same sex Buddhist ceremonial wedding in Taoyuan, Taiwan on Saturday. Taiwan still does not legally recognize same sex marriage. (AP Photo/Wally Santana) |
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Taoyuan,
Taiwan. Two women tied the knot on Saturday in Taiwan’s first same-sex Buddhist
wedding, a move rights groups hope will help make the island become the first
place in Asia to legalize gay marriage.
Fish Huang
and her partner You Ya-ting, both wearing traditional white bridal gowns, said
“I do” in front of a Buddha statue and exchanged prayer beads rather than rings
in a monastery in Taoyuan, in northern Taiwan.
Nearly 300
Buddhists chanted sutras to seek blessings for the couple, both aged 30.
Shih
Chao-hui, a female Buddhist master who presided over the ritual, hailed it as a
historic moment.
“We are
witnessing history. The two women are willing to stand out and fight for their
fate . . . to overcome social discrimination,” said Shih, a well-known advocate
for social justice.
“Some
people might find it astounding [a woman performing the ceremony] but Buddhism
does not engage in ideological struggles and I am used to strange looks from my
own experience in the social movement,” she said.
The
couple’s parents were notably absent from the ceremony, in an indication of the
pressure facing some homosexuals and their families.
“Our
parents initially agreed to attend and they regret that they couldn’t be here.
We understand that people have different acceptance of media exposure and we
want to give them more space,” Huang said shortly before the wedding.
“We hope
with the master’s support, the wedding will change many people’s perspective
even though it is not legally binding,” said the social worker. “We hope the
government can legalise same-sex marriage soon.”
Taiwan is
one of the most culturally liberal societies in East Asia, and gay and lesbian
groups have been urging the government for years to make same-sex unions legal.
Aiming to
create awareness about the issue, about 80 lesbian couples tied the knot last
year in Taiwan’s biggest same-sex wedding party, attracting about 1,000
friends, relatives and curious onlookers.
Taiwan’s
cabinet in 2003 drafted a controversial bill to legalise same-sex marriage and
allow homosexual couples to adopt children.
However,
President Ma Ying-jeou has said public consensus was needed before the
government can move ahead with the law.
Gay rights
groups drafted a new bill earlier this year and urged Ma to push for its
legislation before his term ends in 2016.
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