Taiwan made history by presenting Asia’s first same-sex marriage bill, draft legislation that would grant same-sex couples similar legal protections to heterosexual couples, according to Reuters. Taiwan’s parliament is set to vote on the draft legislation, Act No. 748, by late May.
Taiwan’s Constitutional Court voted to legalize same-sex marriage in 2017 and the government was given until May 2017 to implement the ruling.
“I also want to say to fellow countrymen, whether you are heterosexual or gay, we are all in the same country, we all together live in this land… and I sincerely expect everyone, to be inclusive and accept each other’s difference, and to be good and to treat each other well. [Let’s] make Taiwan a country of mutual respect, and be friendly with each other,” Premier Su Tseng-chang, who is in charge of Taiwan’s cabinet, wrote on Facebook.
Jennifer Lu, the coordinator of Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan, says that the draft does not give complete legal protections to same-sex couples. She says that activists will continue to fight for equal rights.
Last year, Thailand’s government backed a bill to recognize same-sex civil partnerships, which will now need parliamentary approval.
