Taiwan’s image as Asia’s LGBT rights beacon takes a hit as same-sex marriage referendum fails
- Voters reject plans to rewrite civil code to allow same-sex marriages and include gay relationships in equality classes
- Campaigners say result is not the end of the line and say they will fight on to try to achieve a consensus
Gay rights campaigners in Taiwan have suffered a serious reversal after voters rejected a proposal to enshrine same-sex marriage in the island’s civil code.
The result was lamented by human rights groups at home and abroad which they said had dampened the progressive image of the self-ruled island as the first place in Asia to approve such unions.
But campaigners said it was not the end of the line and they would continue to press their case until a consensus on marriage equality was reached.
On Saturday voters went to the polls in local elections, which ended in a serious reverse for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and left the mayoral result in the capital Taipei on a knife-edge.
At the same time, the electorate also had to decide on 10 referendum proposals, including five highly divisive ones on LGBT rights.
The island had been seen as a beacon for gay rights in Asia after the High Court ruled last year that a ban on same-sex unions was unconstitutional and that gay couples would be allowed to officially register their marriages from May next year.