The weddings, which came a week after lawmakers took the unprecedented decision to legalise gay marriage despite staunch conservative opposition, places Taiwan at the vanguard of the burgeoning gay rights movement in Asia. - Long fight for equality -Taiwan made history last week when it became the first place to legalise gay marriage in Asia, home to 60 percent of the world's population. It was Chi who eventually petitioned Taiwan's Constitutional Court leading to a 2017 judgement that denying same-sex couples the right to marry was unconstitutional. - Conservative pushback -In the last decade Taiwan has become increasingly progressive on gay rights with Taipei hosting by far Asia's largest pride parade. Same-sex couples can currently only adopt their partners' biological children and can only wed foreigners from countries where gay marriage is also recognised.

Source: The Nation Bangkok May 24, 2019 05:37 UTC