30-Second Overview: In 1986, Qi Jiawei (祁家威) came out publicly and petitioned the Legislative Yuan for same-sex marriage to be legalized; he was subsequently detained for about five months under martial law on charges of "assault." In 2017, his constitutional appeal resulted in Interpretation No. 748 from the Judicial Yuan; on May 17, 2019, the Legislative Yuan passed the implementing law, and starting May 24, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legally recognize same-sex marriage. This is a story of 33 years of perseverance: one person who was once labeled a "troublemaker" by society and the media ultimately forced society to redefine marriage.
Day One: Waiting for 33 Years
May 24, 2019—the first day the same-sex marriage law took effect.
At 8:00 AM and 46 seconds, the Household Registration Office in Annan District, Tainan City, registered the first same-sex couple in Taiwan. By the end of the day, a total of 526 couples had registered across the island, with 341 female couples and 185 male couples. The Taipei City Government held an outdoor wedding for the newlyweds, who walked down a rainbow carpet.
Qi Jiawei, aged 60 at the time, attended that ceremony, wearing a bright red suit and draped in a rainbow flag to bless the couple. From his first rejection of a petition in 1986 until this day, he had spent 33 years.
During these 33 years, he was detained, labeled a troublemaker by society and the media, and cursed at by passersby while holding a rainbow flag alone on the street. But every time he was rejected, he petitioned again. Every time he lost a case, he appealed again.
📝 Curator's Note
The victory for same-sex marriage in Taiwan did not come because society suddenly became enlightened, but because someone refused to be forgotten by history.
"Serious Injury" During Martial Law
1986: A Press Conference That Changed Destiny
In early 1986, Taiwan was still under martial law.
Qi Jiawei held an international press conference at a McDonald's in Taipei, coming out publicly and later becoming known as Taiwan's first openly gay individual. He invited international media, such as Reuters, to report on the event while also promoting AIDS prevention; he was 27 years old that year.
In the same year, he petitioned the Legislative Yuan, demanding legislation to legalize same-sex marriage. Representatives from the Judicial Yuan and the Ministry of Justice opposed it in committee, and the Judicial Committee of the Legislative Yuan deemed it unnecessary to become a formal bill.
In August of that year, he was questioned and detained on charges of "assault."
"The people who arrested me told me: 'Mr. Qi, you are too capable, so we must make you disappear in the free world and lock you up for five years,'" Qi Jiawei later recalled. He recounted that they arbitrarily slapped him with an assault charge, which he managed to escape after five months using knowledge of criminology and law. Another account comes from his self-reporting: President Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) reportedly did not take the matter seriously; he was released on bail on January 23 of the following year.
Petitions, Notarizations, Registrations—Repeated Rejections
The 1986 petition was Qi Jiawei's first formal request to the state for same-sex marriage. Afterward, he sent the same request to every reachable window: in November 1998, he sought notarization of his marriage with his partner at the Taipei District Court Notary Office and was rejected; after the shift to a registration system in 2008, on March 21, 2013, he registered his marriage at the Wanhua Household Registration Office in Taipei City and was again rejected.
Rejection was expected. But Qi Jiawei did not seek success once; he sought to establish a legal precedent—to change this matter from non-existent into existent. From something no one discussed, to something that must be discussed.
💡 Did You Know
Qi Jiawei said that in the summer of 1975, an English teacher taught him the word "homosexual," and he began contemplating his own sexual identity. While researching during the summer vacation, he read that homosexuality had been removed from mental illness by the psychiatric community, leading him to conclude that his sexual orientation was normal. He remembers the "World Psychiatric Association meeting" in 1974; historically, it was the American Psychiatric Association that removed homosexuality from its diagnostic manual in 1973, and the World Health Organization did not do so until May 17, 1990, a day that later became "International Day of Combating Homophobia."
A War by One Person
The Cold Glare and Curses of Society
From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, LGBTQ+ individuals in Taiwan were still highly stigmatized. Qi Jiawei participated in social movements openly and was frequently cursed at and ridiculed by passersby.
He played Jesus, carrying a cross on the streets to promote AIDS prevention; he wore 300 condoms and dressed as an Egyptian queen to distribute them at train stations; and people avoided him like a plague while he raised funds for AIDS patients.
Veteran Taiwanese reporter Yang Suo recalled: "Whenever I think of Qi Jiawei, I picture the late 80s when he was raising money for AIDS patients with a collection box... Most passersby kept their distance from him, treating him like a plague; society and the media treated him as a 'troublemaker'..."
Yet, Qi Jiawei never felt alone. His strategy was not to organize groups or gather crowds, but to challenge every aspect of the system as an individual.
The Thirty-Year Legal Marathon
From 1986 to 2019, Qi Jiawei exhausted every legal avenue:
- Administrative Appeals: Filing petitions and appeals to various levels of government.
- Judicial Litigation: Civil lawsuits, administrative lawsuits, objections, and appeals.
- Legislative Petitions: Proposing matters to the Legislative Yuan again and again.
- The Final Weapon: In 2015, filing a constitutional appeal with the Justices.
Every loss was a stepping stone toward the next victory. Qi Jiawei was not waiting for society to change; he was creating the conditions for society to change.
Interpretation No. 748: A Historical Judicial Ruling
May 24, 2017: A Turning Point in Asian Constitutional History
On May 24, 2017, the Judicial Yuan announced Interpretation No. 748, declaring that the Civil Code's failure to guarantee same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Taiwan became the first country in Asia whose highest judicial body recognized the constitutional right to same-sex marriage.
✦ "Chapter 2 of Family Relations (Marriage) in the Civil Code does not allow two people of the same sex to establish a permanent relationship with intimacy and exclusivity for the purpose of living together, which violates the intent of Article 22 of the Constitution guaranteeing freedom of marriage and Article 7 guaranteeing equality."
The Justices gave the legislature two years to amend the law. If legislation was not completed by May 24, 2019, same-sex couples could register their marriage directly under the Civil Code.
Two Constitutional Bases
Freedom of Marriage (Article 22): The autonomous decision of "whether to marry" and "whom to marry" relates to healthy personal development and human dignity; two people of the same sex must also be protected.
Equality Rights (Article 7): Discrimination based on sexual orientation should be subject to a "more rigorous standard of review"; the current Civil Code fails this test.
This was not just a legal victory, but a revolutionary shift in the concept of human rights.
The 2018 Referendum: A Social Tug-of-War
The Power of Reaction
After the interpretation, opposition groups launched a counterattack with the "Pro-Family Referendum." On November 24, 2018, the referendum related to same-sex marriage became Taiwan's most intense civic mobilization.
The referendum results were a major setback for the same-sex marriage movement:
- "Civil Code marriage should be limited to one man and one woman": 7.65 million "Yes" votes
- "Guaranteeing two people of the same sex through other forms besides Civil Code marriage": 6.4 million "Yes" votes
- "Guaranteeing a marital relationship for two people of the same sex through Civil Code marriage": only 3.38 million "Yes" votes
Tears on Referendum Night
On the night of November 24, 2018, many LGBTQ+ communities and supporters shed tears at the counting sites. Some described it as the pain of "having their existence denied by a referendum."
However, this defeat also led to important social reflection: Should fundamental human rights be decided by majority vote? The large amount of fear-mongering and misinformation during the referendum also caused society to begin paying attention to the importance of information quality in democratic discourse.
⚠️ Controversial Viewpoint
Legal scholars generally argue that human rights should not be constrained by a majority vote, but opponents insist on the legitimacy of the democratic process. This tension continues to be debated in Taiwanese society today.
May 17, 2019: The Historic 66 Votes
International Day of Combating Homophobia
May 17, 2019—"International Day of Combating Homophobia"—the Legislative Yuan passed the "Act Implementing Interpretation No. 748 of the Judicial Yuan."
Article 4, which allowed same-sex couples to register marriage with household registration agencies, passed with 66 votes in favor and 27 against.
On that day, a light drizzle fell as supporters gathered around the Legislative Yuan since the morning, filling the streets from Qingtong East Road to Zhongshan South Road and Jinan Road.
A Compromise Yet Historic Law
This law was a product of political compromise—it was neither an amendment to the Civil Code nor a completely independent special law, but an "implementing act."
Legal Contents:
- ✅ Marital Rights: Same-sex couples can enter into a marital relationship.
- ✅ Property Protection: Applies the property regime for married couples under the Civil Code.
- ✅ Medical Decisions: Spousal medical proxy rights.
- ✅ Inheritance Rights: Complete inheritance protection.
- ⚠️ Adoption Limitations: Initially, only able to adopt a biological child of the partner.
- ⚠️ Cross-Strait Restrictions: The implementing act itself did not specify, but an internal ministry letter in 2019 stipulated that foreign partners' home countries must also recognize same-sex marriage for registration.
Despite limitations, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legally guarantee same-sex marriage.
After Same-Sex Marriage: Continuous Evolution of Equality
Gradual Legal Improvement
January 19, 2023: The Ministry of the Interior issued a new internal letter stating that Taiwanese citizens and foreign same-sex partners (including those from Hong Kong and Macau, but excluding mainland China) can register marriage in Taiwan regardless of whether the partner's country recognizes same-sex marriage.
May 16, 2023: The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment allowing same-sex spouses to jointly adopt children who are not biologically related.
Marriage Registration Statistics
Since opening on May 24, 2019:
- Total Registrations: Approximately 18,000 couples accumulated by the end of 2025 (9,659 as of the end of 2022; over 10,000 in 2023).
- Gender Ratio: 13,427 female couples and 4,889 male couples, with females being about 2.7 times that of males.
- Annual Registrations: Approximately 1,900 to 2,500 couples per year from 2020 to 2022, and around 3,200 couples per year from 2023 to 2025.
📊 Data Source
Household Registration Statistics of the Ministry of the Interior, compiled from the Wikipedia table on "Same-Sex Marriage in Taiwan," covering May 24, 2019, to December 31, 2025.
The Taipei Gay Parade: A Rainbow Capital of Asia
From 1,000 People to 100,000
2003: The Taipei Gay Parade was founded with nearly a thousand participants.
2014: Organizers estimated around 65,000 people.
In recent years: Organizers estimate numbers between 120,000 and 180,000 (120,000 in 2022, 176,000 in 2023, 180,000 in 2024).
Every last Saturday of October, the city center of Taipei is covered by rainbow flags. Participants include LGBTQ+ communities, straight allies, corporate groups, foreign diplomats, and international tourists, forming Asia's largest gender equality carnival.
Local Parades Flourish Everywhere
Beyond Taipei, parades have been held in Kaohsiung (since 2010), Taichung, Tainan, and Hualien. The development of local parades shows that the issue of gender has spread from metropolitan topics to all parts of Taiwan.
The Taipei Gay Parade attracts a large number of LGBTQ+ groups from Southeast Asia and East Asia for special visits, leading Taiwan to be seen as an "Asia-friendly capital for LGBTQ+."
International Significance: A Beacon in Asia
The Exemplary Effect
January 23, 2025: Thailand's same-sex marriage law took effect, making it the first country in Southeast Asia to recognize same-sex marriage.
LGBTQ+ movements in countries like Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and the Philippines have drawn strategy and courage from the Taiwanese case. Taiwan proved that: Asian societies can establish progressive human rights systems while maintaining cultural traditions.
A Display of Soft Power
The legalization of same-sex marriage strengthened Taiwan's international image as an "Asian Human Rights Beacon." In a context facing diplomatic challenges, gender equality has become an important area for Taiwan to demonstrate its values.
The Unfinished Revolution
Issues Yet to Be Resolved
Transgender Rights: According to the Ministry of the Interior's internal letter, changing gender on an ID still requires psychiatric diagnosis and genital removal surgery; as of July 2026, there have been 12 transgender individuals who won a final judgment in administrative litigation for "certificate change without surgery," meaning the system itself has not yet changed.
Anti-Discrimination Law: Taiwan lacks comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, leading to insufficient protection against workplace and educational discrimination.
Rural LGBTQ+: LGBTQ+ communities outside metropolitan areas still face challenges regarding resources and acceptance.
Elderly Care for LGBTQ+: The system of LGBTQ+-friendly long-term care needs to be built up.
Ongoing Social Dialogue
After the same-sex marriage legislation, social discussions in Taiwan about gender issues have become more mature. The focus has shifted from "whether one can marry" to "how to live together," moving from legal equality toward social inclusion.
Gender equality education, workplace diversity and inclusion, and a friendly medical environment—these are the next battlegrounds for gender equality in Taiwan.
Why Is This Important?
The significance of Taiwan's same-sex marriage legislation extends far beyond marriage itself:
A Litmus Test of Democratic Quality: How a society treats minority groups is an important indicator of its democratic maturity.
Redefining Asian Values: Taiwan has proven that respecting tradition and guaranteeing human rights can coexist.
A Victory for the Rule of Law: From individual applications to judicial interpretation, it demonstrates the power of legal systems to protect the vulnerable.
A Symbol of Social Progress: Moving from "crime" during martial law to a "right" in the democratic era reflects the civilization's progress as a whole.
From Qi Jiawei's first petition during martial law in 1986, to the historic vote in the Legislative Yuan in 2019; from one person's lonely war to the rainbow parades of tens of thousands—Taiwan walked through 33 years.
This story tells us: Change is not instantaneous, but as long as someone is willing to stand up, and as long as the rule of law functions, equality and dignity will eventually arrive.
The experience of Taiwan also declares to the world: in this world full of differences, love is something that does not need to be categorized.
References
- BBC Chinese: 30 Years of the Taiwanese Gay Movement: Witnessing the Passage of Same-Sex Marriage Law
- Judicial Yuan: Interpretation No. 748
- CNA: Asia's First Same-Sex Marriage Law Passed by Legislative Yuan in Three Readings
- Legislative Yuan: Act Implementing Interpretation No. 748 of the Judicial Yuan
- Amnesty International: Taiwan becomes first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage