YASSSS! Taiwan Slated To Become The First Asian Country To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage!!

Some much needed good news.
On Wednesday, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled that the East Asian country’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Obviously, this is a HUGE milestone for LGBT rights, not just in Taiwan, but around the globe as the nation will be the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage.
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Specifically, the previous Taiwanese Civil Code which banned same-sex couples from tying the knot was officially dubbed as a “violation” to the constitution. The top court’s ruling read:

“The provisions of Chapter 2 on Marriage of Part IV on Family of the Civil Code do not allow two persons of the same sex to create a permanent union of intimate and exclusive nature for the committed purpose of managing a life together. The said provisions, to the extent of such failure, are in violation of both the people’s freedom of marriage as protected by Article 22 and the people’s right to equality as guaranteed by Article 7 of the Constitution.”

Snap! Snap!
The government has since been ordered to change the law within the next two years in order to properly reflect the court’s ruling. However, the court says it’s up to the Taiwanese government to decide how these changes are executed.
As we mentioned (above), once these changes are implemented, Taiwan will be the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. They’re the second in the Asia-Pacific region since New Zealand made it legal in 2013.
The Taiwanese people are clearly elated about this news, we mean, just a take a peek at the happy reaction (below) that followed once the news broke.

Live: Gay rights supporters in Taiwan celebrate after the Constitutional Court said banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. pic.twitter.com/TsOsJG9Tsp
— The News Lens INTL (@thenewslensintl) May 24, 2017

Although, none of this would be possible without longtime gay activist Chi Chia-wei, whose suit was one of two which the court considered when looking at altering the constitutional clause. In case you forgot, Chi was arrested in 1986 after coming out as gay and petitioning for same-sex marriages to be recognized.
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The Constitutional Court addressed their decision in a statement, where they wrote:

“The need, capability, willingness and longing, in both physical and psychological senses, for creating such permanent unions of intimate and exclusive nature are equally essential to homosexuals and heterosexuals, given the importance of the freedom of marriage to the sound development of personality and safeguarding of human dignity… The current provisions of the Marriage Chapter do not allow two persons of the same sex to create a permanent union of intimate and exclusive nature for the committed purpose of managing a life together. This is obviously a gross legislative flaw.”

Preach! Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, who has been a longtime supporter of marriage equality, weighed in on the ruling on Facebook. On the historic decision, the politician noted:

“Dear fellow people of Taiwan, the ruling is not a win or a lose. No matter what your stance is on the issue of same-sex marriage, this is a moment to look at all those around us as our own brothers and sisters.”

We’re not crying, you are!
We honestly couldn’t be happier for all of those LGBT couples in Taiwan — have fun celebrating, guys!
[Image via Getty Images.]