FEATURE/Fighting for love: Inside the struggle for marriage equality

By Evelyn Yang and Amber Wu, CNA staff writer and intern

When Chase Williams married his Filipino partner, Mark Macabitas, in the U.S. in 2022, he expected their life in Taiwan, often seen as a beacon for LGBTQ+ rights, would be smooth sailing.

It never occurred to him that their marriage would not be recognized and that they would be forced to embark on a legal battle that has so far lasted a year and a half.

"For me, what's been most surprising is that we have a marriage license from the U.S., and the U.S. is a huge ally of Taiwan," Williams told CNA in a recent interview.

The couple met in 2021 through a dating app when Macabitas worked in Kaohsiung. After a year of long-distance dating, he moved to Hsinchu for work, while Williams continued his work as a teacher at an international school in Taipei.

Williams said it has been "frustrating" because if the marriage was recognized in Taiwan, Macabitas would be eligible for a spousal visa, which would mean better employment opportunities, among other benefits.

He is currently on a migrant worker visa, which limits the type of work he can do.

Furthermore, the two are unable to see each other often because Macabitas' schedule is largely restricted by his factory job.

"We haven't had an opportunity to build a life together because he's rarely here [in Taipei]," Williams explained.

"How do you think about a five-year plan when there's so much uncertainty about what your visa is going to look like?" Williams questioned. "It's hard for us to even talk about the timeline for having kids when we don't know when we'll be able to achieve full equality."

The 'Taiwan-China' conundrum

Chris and Vicky, who spoke to CNA on condition of anonymity, have been together for two and a half years and would like to tie the knot. But like hundreds of other Taiwanese and Chinese same-sex couples, they are unable to register their marriage in Taiwan.

This is because the government has failed to establish a way for Chinese spouses to undergo the process available to other individuals who wish to wed their Taiwanese same-sex partner but are from a country where same-sex marriage is illegal.

This process involves undergoing an interview, after which a couple can marry.

For Chris and Vicky, the consequences of Chinese nationals being singled out have been devastating because the legal barrier drastically reduces the time they can spend together.

"We thought that when the pandemic or political situation [cross-strait tensions] improved, it would at least be easier to meet," said Chris, a Taiwanese national. "But now it's tough even to see each other."

Vicky, a Chinese national from Shanghai, feels the same sense of frustration. She can only stay in Taiwan for short periods after special reviews by officials on both sides are completed, despite her reason for travel being to visit her partner.

"I came here for university in 2013 during the Sunflower Movement. You could really feel the fear and anxiety Taiwanese people had about China," she said. "So, I get why the government acts how it does, but I don't necessarily agree. It's just something I feel helpless about."

The overlooked voices

In January 2023, the Executive Yuan declared that same-sex marriage is "part of Taiwan's public order" and that the restrictions on cross-national same-sex couples being together "harm our country's public order and good customs, and endanger the stability of our country's general private life."

Along with this, it was announced transnational gay couples, comprised of one Taiwanese person and one person from a country where same-sex marriage was illegal, would be able to marry in Taiwan.

This built on the landmark May 2019 legislation which gave same-sex couples the right to marry in the country -- as long as all foreigners involved in a relationship were from a country where it was legal.

However, if both partners are foreign nationals and one is from a country where same-sex marriage is illegal, the couple still cannot get married in Taiwan.

Separate regulations also prevent cross-strait couples (Taiwanese + Mainland Chinese) from marrying, but couples where one individual is from Hong Kong or Macau and the other is from Taiwan can tie the knot.

The battle for 'full equality'

"These past five years have been really tough," Chien Chih-chieh (簡至潔), secretary-general of the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, said as she reflected on the years after Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage and has been touting itself as the "leading country" in Asia for having done so.

"What we've come to realize is that LGBTQ+ issues often get pushed aside because of political changes."

The activist said that foreigners with an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) should be treated the same as citizens. "You can't treat them differently because they have different nationalities: marriage is a basic human right."

Regarding the restrictions imposed on Taiwan-China same-sex couples, Chien said that because cross-strait issues are seen as politically sensitive, the whole administrative system thinks it can ignore the law and do "whatever it wants."

Chien and her wife have been helping cross-strait same-sex couples file lawsuits, but lawmakers block these marriages, citing "national security" concerns.

This is despite around 350,000 Mainland Chinese spouses -- in heterosexual relationships -- being able to live in Taiwan without question.

Meanwhile, those still not allowed to tie the knot with the one they love continue to wait for the government's next move.

"Taiwan likes to celebrate itself as a very inclusive place, as the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage and as a place where [same-sex] couples can come and be safe," Williams said, "so achieving full equality is important because you want to be authentic and frame that in the global context."

In response to the matters, the Ministry of Interior said in an email to CNA that household registration offices only handle same-sex marriage registrations for "Taiwanese citizens, foreign nationals from countries recognizing same-sex marriage, and Taiwanese citizens marrying foreign nationals (including residents of Hong Kong and Macau) in Taiwan."

Regarding same-sex partners from across the Taiwan Strait, administrative measures, including entry reasons, interview mechanisms, and registration procedures, must be conducted under the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, it said.

No explanation has been provided for the rationale behind these rules or whether they will be revised.

Enditem/kb