Petitioning for a constitutional interpretation
In 2000, Dayway Chief submitted his first petition for a constitutional interpretation to the Justices of the Constitutional Court. He did not believe in defeat or frustration. From 1986 to 2019, LGBT organizations and elected representatives, including the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, legislator Hsiao Bi-khi and lawyer Yu Mei-nu, submitted 26 marriage equality bills to the government, 13 of which were initiated by Chief. Far from bringing him down, every disappointment only served to reinforce his determination.
On August 20, 2015 (Qixi Festival), Dayway Chief’s latest application to register his marriage was rejected. Once again, he filed a petition for a constitutional interpretation. He smiles as he adds that the marriage would not have been regarded as bigamous, as his earlier application in 1986 had been rejected.
On February 20, 2017, the Judicial Yuan announced that it would consider the petition. On May 24 of that year the Justices of the Constitutional Court issued Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748, declaring that the Family Law section of the Civil Code had failed to protect same-sex rights, and that this contravened both Article 22 of the Constitution, which protects the people’s freedom to marry, and Article 7, which protects the people’s right to equal treatment.
The results of referendums held on November 24, 2018 came as a blow to supporters of same-sex marriage, because as many as 72% of voters thought that marriage, as defined in the Civil Code, should only mean the union of one man and one woman. Sixty-one percent were in favor of making a special law to legalize same-sex marriage, rather than amending the Civil Code. But in order to comply with the constitutional interpretation, the Legislative Yuan passed the Enforcement Act of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748 on May 17, 2019, amid protests and clamor. Article 4 of this act provides that “same-sex couples may register their marriages at household registration offices.” When the act was passed, the supporters of same-sex marriage who had gathered outside the Legislative Yuan gave a big round of applause, and many of the couples hugged each other in tears. Taiwan thus became the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage.
Many same-sex couples held a mass wedding on the day the equal marriage law came into effect. Dayway Chief was invited to witness their unions. (© Central News Agency)