Taiwan’s parliament on Tuesday approved a legislative amendment allowing same-sex couples to jointly adopt children, a decision hailed as “another big step forward” for the LGBTQ+ community.
Taiwan is at the forefront of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights in Asia with the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2019, a first in this part of the world, according to the French agency AFP.
But same-sex couples still face restrictions, including the inability to adopt non-biological children or for one spouse to be the legal parent of the couple’s adoptive child.
The amendment was approved on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the law on marriage for all. The legislative amendment “not only guarantees the protection of children’s rights, but also serves their best interests,” said Fan Yun MP, one of the proponents of the amendment, draped in a rainbow flag.
“In the future, spouses and parents, regardless of their gender and sexual orientation, will be able to enjoy full legal protection,” it added.
The amendment comes after last year a family court in the city of Kaohsiung, in the south of the island, ruled in favor of the adoption of a non-biological child of the husband by a married homosexual, the first decision of its kind. .
“After four years of hard work, the parliament has finally passed the bill on adoption by unrelated same-sex couples,” the Taiwan Alliance for the Promotion of Civil Union Rights said.
The Alliance also welcomed Taiwan’s recent recognition in January of transnational same-sex marriage.
Previously, foreigners were not allowed to marry Taiwanese couples from territories that prohibit same-sex marriage, as is the case in most of Asia.
Since same-sex marriage was legalized in 2019, at least 7,000 same-sex couples have married in Taiwan, according to Interior Ministry data last updated in 2021.
The Alliance said Tuesday it would continue to push for broader rights for same-sex couples, including recognition of same-sex marriage between Taiwanese and Chinese.
Following the approval of the amendment to the law, the Ministry of Health said today that it will start allowing same-sex couples to adopt “based on current normal procedures,” according to Taiwan’s CNA news agency.
Source: TSF
