Man in Taiwan seeks constitutional verdict on his same-sex union

Want China Times, CNA and Staff Reporter 2014-12-25

Chi Chia-wei, center, during a press event held to announce his plan to seek
 constitutional interpretation, Dec. 24, in front of Taiwan's Judicial Yuan.
(Photo/Chen Chen-tang)

A man in Taiwan said Wednesday that he plans to seek a constitutional interpretation of a case in which he has been seeking recognition of his same-sex union in the country since the 1980s.

The decision by Chi Chia-wei, who also calls himself Dayway Chief, came two days after a committee in the Legislature began a second review of a marriage equality bill.

Joining a wave of recent calls for the legalization of same-sex unions in Taiwan, Chi announced his decision at a press conference that was attended by other LGBTIQ rights activists and his lawyers in front of the Judicial Yuan.

He told CNA that he and his lawyers are likely to file for a constitutional interpretation of the legal status of his marriage next January after they have prepared the relevant documents.

Chi dismissed some of the common arguments against marriage equality by saying that members of the LGBTIQ community have been clinically proven to be just as "normal" as anyone else, and that marriage is a normal thing. "Why can't normal people be allowed to do normal things?" he said.

Chien Chih-chieh, secretary-general of the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, said LGBTIQ rights group have high expectations for the Judicial Yuan.

"We hope the Justices of the Constitutional Court, as gatekeepers of the Constitution, can stand on the high level of the Constitution and give equal rights back to gay and lesbian couples," Chien said.

The union between Chi and his partner began with a ceremony in Taipei in 1988. Since then, they have been pursuing several legal channels to have their union recognized in Taiwan as a legal marriage.

In March last year, he and his partner tried to register their marriage at the Wanhua district household registration office in Taipei but their application was turned down. They then lodged an administrative appeal with the Taipei city government but that was also rejected.

Chi subsequently filed a complaint with the Taipei High Administrative Court, which ruled in March this year that the Wanhua office had not violated the law when it refused to register the union.

Undeterred, Chi took the case to the Supreme Administrative Court, but his appeal was rejected in September.

Victoria Hsu, a lawyer and chief executive officer of the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, called Chi's decision to seek a constitutional interpretation an "important moment in history," as Taiwan's Justices of the Constitutional Court have never issued a direct interpretation on same-sex marriage.

She said she hopes the application for a constitutional interpretation will force the Justices of the Constitutional Court to handle the human rights issue head-on.

She stressed that marriage equality is now legal in at least 16 countries and in 35 states in the United States, calling it an international human rights trend.

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