Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights (TAPCPR)
Supplementary news material
25 May 2019 
 
1.        Complete adoption rights
The Enforcement Act of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No.748 permits a person in a same sex marriage to adopt the biological children of their spouse (Article 20), but does not permit joint adoption of non-biological children. While this does recognize and meet the needs of many same-sex families with biological children, the restriction fails to guarantee the full rights of same-sex couples in matters of adoption.

2.        Laws and administrative measures governing transnational same-sex marriages
Same-sex couples with a partner who is a foreign national eagerly await the opportunity to marry and form a family in Taiwan. However, where the laws of the foreign national’s home country do not permit same-sex marriage, Article 46 of Taiwan’s “Act Governing the Choice of Law in Civil Matters Involving Foreign Elements” could be interpreted as prohibiting the marriage in Taiwan. Given that the Enforcement Act of Judicial Yuan Interpretation No.748 does not include complimentary regulations that would avoid a potential restriction of rights, TAPCPR asks the Executive Yuan to consider amending the Law or adopting appropriate regulations.

3.        The final repeal of the separate same-sex marriage law and the non-discriminatory application of the Civil Code for marriage to all citizens in Taiwan to be in line with the spirit of the Constitution
The separate law governing same-sex marriage is a milestone in our movement. However, segregation is not true equality. We still hope that the Civil Code will be applied to align with the spirit of the Constitution to embrace everyone of this nation. Therefore, we hope one day the same-sex marriage law can be repealed and the same Civil Code clauses governing marriage laws made applicable to everyone in Taiwan regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. 

4.        The retention of civil partnership registration and the expansion of the scope to heterosexual and unmarried couples
TAPCPR hopes to retain the civil partnership registration for the reasons that some same sex couples may still encounter social and/or familial challenges to registering their marriage, while other couples, regardless of their sexual orientation, simply may not wish to get married. The civil partnership registration serves as legal verification of their relationship. That is why we hope to retain such registration to allow same-sex couples to register and hope it can be expanded to heterosexual and non-married couples.

Marriage may not be a perfect system for everyone. Or some may choose not to enter the system at this moment. There is a sizeable proportion of the population in Taiwan who cohabitate but do not intend to get married, regardless of sexual orientation. TAPCPR hopes to recognize diverse families in various formations, which is the aspiration of our movement and what we will still strive for over the next decade.