First Same Sex Buddhist Marriage in Taiwan Reports TaiwanFriendFinder.com

San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/10/2012 -- The marriage that took place on Saturday between a Taiwanese lesbian couple in the island’s first Buddhist same-sex wedding has sparked debate about just how far the Taiwanese society has progressed in its treatment of the gay community.

The marriage that took place over the weekend between Huang Mei-Yu and Yu Ya-ting, both of age 30, exchanged vows at a Buddhist monastery in Guangyin Township in North Taiwan. The ceremony was attend by more than 100 guests, but according to the report, neither of the partners parents were amongst the guests.

Taiwan has been famous for its positive attitude towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people for a long time. Each year, Taiwan hosts the biggest gay pride parade in the capital city of Taipei. Taipei had been named as one of the top 10 gay friendly travel destinations by gaytravel.com.

In spite of all this, Taiwan still falls short of legalizing same sex marriages, which is the most important part in terms of protecting gay rights.

Kuan Yu, a staff member at the Taiwan Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Family Rights Advocacy and the also the group that helped in organizing this wedding said,

“Public awareness and acceptance of homosexual community is rising, but the fight for legalization of for same-sex marriage remains an uphill battle.”

In 2006, legislator Hsiao Bi-khim of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, proposed a bill to recognize same-sex marriages but it was returned due to insufficient signatures. Since then, neither party has made any new efforts to revive the proposal.

Same-sex couples still await the day they will be allowed to marry in happy matrimony, through a procedure recognized in Taiwan’s legal system.

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