Taiwan made history last week when it became the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage, sparking jubilation among huge crowds of gay rights supporters on the streets of Taipei. For veteran gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei, Friday's weddings are the culmination of a three-decade long fight trying to persuade successive governments to change the law. - Conservative pushback -In the last decade Taiwan has placed itself at the vanguard of gay rights in Asia but the issue has polarised society. Same-sex couples can currently only adopt their partners' biological children and can only wed foreigners from countries where gay marriage is also recognised. Gay rights groups say they are willing to accept partial equality for now in the hopes of winning later legal battles over issues such as adoption, surrogacy and marrying foreigners.

Source: Bangkok Post May 24, 2019 01:41 UTC