On Feb. 21, Taiwan’s Executive Yuan unveiled the “Enforcement Act of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748” draft bill which, if passed, will recognize same-sex marriages. Anti-LGBT group criticized the draft bill for violating the results of Questions 10 and 12 on November’s referendums, instead proposing the establishment of a “same-sex common life law” to recognize same-sex “unions,” not “marriages,” in Taiwan’s constitution.
However, if we look at the 10th referendum question in detail, the real target of the referendum was to determine the concept of marriage within the Civil Code.
The Central Election Commission’s referendum summary said that, regardless of the outcome of the referendum, “this does not exclude same-sex couples from the protection of their right to intimate and exclusive long-term partnerships ensured by other laws, which is in accordance with the equal protection of the freedom of marriage as stated in Interpretation No. 748.” In other words, the result of the referendum’s 10th item will only influence the government from guaranteeing same-sex-marriage within the Civil Code. It cannot dictate any union outside the Civil Code or prevent any other laws from protecting same-sex-marriages, which are protected by a historic high court ruling in 2017 saying same-sex couples in Taiwan have the constitutional right to marry.
