Taiwan Celebrates Same-Sex Marriage With A Mass Wedding Banquet


Taiwanese same-sex couples cheer with supporters at a mass wedding banquet in Taipei, Taiwan.
Chiang Ying-ying/AP

Taiwanese same-sex couples kiss at their wedding party in Taipei, Taiwan, on May 25, 2019. Taiwan has become the first place in Asia to allow same-sex marriage.

More than a thousand people participated in a mass wedding banquet in Taiwan on Saturday to celebrate the island becoming the first place in Asia to legally recognize same-sex unions.

The event included a wedding ceremony for about 20 couples. Couples walked down a red carpet at the wedding banquet, surrounded by jubilant supporters. Supporters gathered around the venue, camping out on picnic blankets to watch the ceremony and stage performances.

Earlier this month, Taiwan’s legislature voted 66 to 27 to recognize same-sex marriages. Taiwan’s high court had ruled in 2017 that forbidding the marriage of same sex couples violated Taiwan’s constitution, and set a two-year deadline for the legislature to pass a corresponding law or same-sex marriage would become legal automatically.

NPR’s Laurel Wamsley reported that marriage equality was part of President Tsai Ing-wen’s 2016 campaign platform. Before the vote in Taiwan’s state legislature, Tsai tweeted, “Good morning Taiwan. Today, we have a chance to make history & show the world that progressive values can take root in an East Asian society. Today, we can show the world that #LoveWins.”

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