UNMADE IN TAIWAN

Taiwanese Court Denies Couple’s Request To Be Recognized As Same-Sex Household

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On Tuesday, a Taiwanese court denied a petition by two gay men to be recognized as a same-sex household, despite initially accepting their application.

Chen Jing-hsueh and Gao Jhih-wei (right) have been together for six years but their relationship isn’t recognized by the Taiwanese government. According to Taiwanese civil law, the only requirement for a legal marriage is a public ceremony with at least two witnesses. Chen and Gao were wed in September 2006 but the Department of Household Registration (DHR) turned down their request for joint-household status several times in the intervening years.

In August 2011, after Chen and Gao filed a lawsuit, it appeared the DHR was changing its mind and said it would accept their request for joint-household status.

Then, just a month later, the Department formally denied the application.

Chen and Gao appealed but, at the Taipei High Administrative Court on Tuesday, a government representative claimed gay couples couldn’t get joint-household status because marriage was “a monogamous conjugal union between a husband and a wife.”

The reversal illustrates the complexity and differing interpretations of of marital law in Taiwan. Writes Gay Star News:

“There had been considerable back-and-forth contact among the Department of Household Registration, the Department of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice before there was a final denial.”

We wish we could say things were less murky here in the States, but alas


Source: Gay Star News. Photo via Facebook

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