Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

After decade upon decade of struggle to overcome the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) one-party state, martial law and the White Terror era, Taiwanese finally won the right to freely elect their own government. They won democracy.

From 1996 on, they could not only elect members of the Legislative Yuan, but also the nation’s president. This put the future of Taiwan squarely in the hands of the voters.

Taiwan cemented its reputation as a democratic, progressive nation yesterday afternoon, as the Democratic Progressive Party used its legislative majority to pass the Executive Yuan’s awkwardly titled Enforcement Act of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 748 (司法院釋字第748號解釋施行法) to legalize same-sex marriage.

The bill was the only one of the three up for review yesterday that would allow same-sex couples to register marriages, as opposed to “unions,” and provide limited adoption rights.