Taiwan to make landmark gay marriage ruling

Yahoo – AFP, May 23, 2017

This picture taken on May 19, 2017 shows Taiwanese gay rights campaigner
Chi Chia-wei, 59, posing for a photograph with a flag during an exhibition in
Taipei (AFP Photo/SAM YEH)

Taipei (AFP) - Taiwan could become the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage on Wednesday when a court makes a landmark ruling on whether to allow same-sex unions.

Activists are optimistic the decision will go in their favour, with growing momentum behind the push for equal marriage rights on the island.

But there is also anger among conservative groups who have staged mass rallies against a change in the law as the debate divides society.

Campaigners for and against gay marriage are expected to gather in central Taipei on Wednesday afternoon.

The decision itself will be posted online by the judiciary at 4:00 pm (0800 GMT).

A panel of 14 grand justices will make the ruling in a case that centres on whether Taiwan's current law is unconstitutional.

Taiwan's pioneering gay rights campaigner, Chi Chia-wei, is one of the petitioners who has brought the case to the constitutional court.

This picture taken on May 19, 2017 shows Taiwanese gay rights campaigner 

Chi Chia-wei, 59, posing for a photograph during an exhibition in Taipei

(AFP Photo/SAM YEH)

After 30 years of activism, Chi, 59, told AFP he is "100 percent confident" the ruling will go in his favour.

He urged the judges to allow gay couples to register to marry the next day if they approve a change in the law, rather than giving the government a longer timeframe to implement the decision.

At the heart of the case is a clause in Taiwan's Civil Code that an agreement to marry should be made between a man and a woman.

Chi wants the court to rule on whether that contravenes elements in Taiwan's constitution which guarantee equality and freedom of marriage.

The decision is binding, so a ruling in his favour would pave the way for same-sex unions to be legalised.

The other party bringing the case is the Taipei city government, which has been rejecting marriage applications by same-sex couples and is seeking clarification of the law.

A majority of at least 10 judges need to agree on the ruling.

This photo taken on March 24, 2017 shows veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei (C) 

speaking to the press with his supporters in front of the Judicial Yuan in Taipei

(AFP Photo/Sam YEH)

For the first time ever, the judiciary will release the decision simultaneously in Chinese and English, an indication of the level of international interest.

The ruling is likely to reverberate around the region, with calls for marriage equality rising in a number of countries, including South Korea and Japan.

Taiwan is seen as one of the most progressive societies in Asia when it comes to gay rights, and momentum has been gathering since President Tsai Ing-wen -- who has openly supported marriage equality -- came to power last May.

The legislature has also made more progress than ever, with proposals to amend the Civil Code, passing the first reading in December.

However, as well as huge pro-gay marriage rallies, hundreds of thousands have gathered to demonstrate against legalising same-sex unions.

Conservative and religious groups in Taiwan say that it would destroy family values.

Taiwan gay marriage supporters cry with joy after landmark Asian ruling pic.twitter.com/V2DhMFDyPq

— AFP news agency (@AFP) May 24, 2017

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"The Akashic Circle" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)  - (Text version)

“… Gender Switching

Old souls, let me tell you something. If you are old enough, and many of you are, you have been everything. Do you hear me? All of you. You have been both genders. All of you have been what I will call between genders, and that means that all of you have had gender switches. Do you know what happens when it's time for you to switch a gender? We have discussed it before. You'll have dozens of lifetimes as the same gender. You're used to it. It's comfortable. You cannot conceive of being anything else, yet now it's time to change. It takes approximately three lifetimes for you to get used to it, and in those three lifetimes, you will have what I call "gender confusion."

It isn't confusion at all. It's absolutely normal, yet society often will see it as abnormal. I'm sitting here telling you you've all been through it. All of you. That's what old souls do. It's part of the system. …”