A coalition of Taiwanese-American and LGBTQ organisations will jointly sponsor an event on November 2, 2018 to raise resources and visibility for the campaign to make Taiwan the first country in Asia to win the freedom to marry.
Co-hosts of the event are Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan, API Rainbow Parents of PFLAG NYC, GAPIMNY, Freedom to Marry Global, Human Rights Campaign, Outright, Human Rights Watch, Café Philo ＠ NY, and GAPIMNY.
In 2017, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court issued a landmark ruling affirming that marriage is a fundamental, constitutional right guaranteed to all citizens. The ruling mandated the legislature to update the civil code to allow same-sex couples to begin marrying by May 2019.
But anti-LGBTQ organisations initiated three referendum measures for the ballot for Taiwan local elections on November 24. The ballot questions aim to delay same-sex couples from marrying and to roll back a nationwide curriculum that protects LGBTQ youth. U.S-based groups like the National Organization for Marriage helped instigate the move to require the referendum votes.
In response, LGBTQ activists initiated two referendum measures supporting marriage equality and LGBTQ youth. As a result, the ballot on November 24 will include five LGBTQ-related ballot questions.
The New York event will bring together New York’s Taiwanese-American community and leaders in the LGBTQ movement in an effort to raise resources for the Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan’s final push to educate the public and mobilise voters before election day.
What: Love from Stonewall – Support Marriage Equality in Taiwan
Who:
Evan Wolfson, founder of Freedom to Marry
Ty Cobb, Human Rights Campaign
Jennifer Lu, chair of the Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan (via video)
Lance Chen-Hayes, a Taiwanese-American activist
When: Friday, November 1, 2018, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Where: The Stonewall Inn 53 Christopher Street, Manhattan, USA.
