TAIWAN: Same-Sex Marriage Ruling Due May 24th

The China Post reports:

Taiwan’s grand justices are poised to make a landmark ruling concerning the constitutionality of a bar on same-sex marriage May 24, its secretariat confirmed Monday.

14 justices heard the arguments from gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei [photo], his attorneys and other government officials last month, over whether the Civil Code’s description of marriage as between a man and a woman contravened the Constitution’s guarantee that “all citizens, irrespective of sex … shall be equal before the law.”

A ruling of the justices could pave the way for Taiwan to become the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriage. Chi and other LGBT supporters advocate amendments to the Civil Code rather than legislating a separate special law for gay couples, arguing the latter amounts to treating them as second-class citizens.