Taiwan has asserted its status as one of Asia’s most progressive countries after granting same-sex couples the right to adopt earlier this month.
The Same-Sex Marriage Act, which was passed in 2019, made Taiwan the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. The new section allowing same-sex couples to jointly adopt, comes in the form of an extension upon the 2019 legislation.
According to Pink News, up until this point, if same-sex couples wanted to adopt, only one of them could register as a child’s legal parent. The current legislation was introduced after a court ruling in late 2021 granted a Taiwanese gay man the right to adopt his husband’s child. Though this ruling did not exactly set a precedent for same-sex adoption rights nationwide, it inspired the introduction of this legislation two years later.
Taiwan is considered to be one of the most LGBTQ+ friendly and safe countries in Asia, and just last year the Pride celebration in Taipei was attended by approximately 120,000 people.
Lawmakers in Taiwan are proud of their achievements in LGBTQ+ equality. “Only through joint adoption can we protect the rights and interests of each other by law,” said Fan Yun, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party.
Taiwan continues to set an example for more conservative Asian countries as it moves to protect and support LGBTQ+ communities.
