Taiwan to allow transnational same-sex marriage

In a recent policy revision, Taiwan will now recognize same-sex marriages between its citizens and their foreign partners.

In a directive issued to local governments on Thursday, Taiwan’s Ministry of Interior (MOI) said that same-sex couples should be allowed to register their marriage even if the foreign partner is from a jurisdiction where same-sex unions are outlawed. The move was one of the last to be made by Premier Su Tseng-Chang (蘇貞昌 Sū Zhēnchāng), who stepped down on Thursday amid an expected government reshuffle.

In 2019, Taiwan legally enabled marriage equality for same-sex couples, marking a historic first in Asia. But before the policy shift, transnational couples in Taiwan were barred from officially tying the knot if one of the partners comes from a country or region where gay marriage is illegal.

LGBTQ groups and communities in Taiwan have been celebrating the news as a significant victory in advancing LGBTQ rights. The change is an updated administrative interpretation of the law on the basis of basic human rights guaranteed by Taiwan’s constitution, said Victoria Hsu (許秀雯 Xǔ Xiùwén), attorney and co-founder of the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights (TAPCPR), a local non-profit group promoting LGBT rights.

Hsu’s organization has been advocating for the change since 2019. In the past three years, TAPCPR has represented numerous couples who have successfully sued local household registration offices for the right to marry in Taiwan.

“The new administrative letter will be welcomed by the local governments and household registration offices because [the household registration offices] lost all the cases,” Hsu said. “This is the fruit of our judicial battles. We have lobbied our government on this issue for several years.”

The modification, however, does not apply to Taiwanese-Chinese couples. This is widely understood as the result of the Republic of China’s framework, which does not consider PRC residents as foreign nationals.

Hsu said cross-strait same-sex marriage likely remains blocked because of recent heightened political tensions and national security concerns — even though, as Hsu points out, there are thousands of cross-strait heterosexual couples.

“Other same-sex marriages have the legal basis to be registered in Taiwan. It will require some administrative measures, but that’s not that hard for our government,” Hsu said. “In my view, the freedom to marry is a basic human right. So the Taiwanese government should not sacrifice the freedom to marry for our citizens.”

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council stated in 2021 that it was working on a solution to protect cross-strait same-sex marriages.

“We regret that same-sex couples on both sides of the strait were unable to register for marriage after this wave of reforms, but at the same time, we also understand that our partners in different political and public sectors have made great efforts to get to this point,” a joint statement from several Taiwan-based LGBTQ advocacy organizations stated.

“We want to congratulate all transnational couples,” the statement added. “Going forward, we will continue supporting cross-strait couples until the day they can get married.”

In order to stay in Taiwan with her Taiwanese partner, Bee-Guat Tan, who is from Malaysia, applied for a local tour guide certification program and later a Master’s program at a Taiwanese school. Because of her visa status as a student, Tan has been restricted to working 80 hours a month, which isn’t enough for the couple to live comfortably.

“After we register our marriage, we will immediately go to the immigration office to exchange the student residence permit for a dependent residence permit. Bee-Guat can work more comfortably, and I hope we can slowly save money and get out of poverty,” said Kai-Li Lai (賴凱俐 Lài Kǎilì), Tan’s partner.

Lai said she and Tan had petitioned their household registration office in New Taipei City for legal marriage registration in 2022. It was initially refused. But on Tuesday — the day before MOI’s updated interpretation of the law — Lai received a phone call informing her that their registration had been approved.

“I have been on this road for more than six years, and I felt that the time should be coming soon,” she said. “But I still feel very moved, I can gradually let go of my long-standing worries.”

Taiwan is regarded as the most progressive country in Asia for LGBTQ rights, though other legal barriers still remain in place. For example, married same-sex couples are barred from jointly adopting children (unless one partner adopts the biological child of the other), a restriction TAPCPR continues to fight against.

A year ago, a same-sex couple won a legal battle that allowed them to jointly adopt a child, though the court ruling has not been codified into law.