Taiwan Parliament approves Asia's first gay marriage Bill

TAIPEI - Taiwan's Parliament legalised same-sex marriage on Friday (May 17) in a landmark first for Asia as the government survived a last-minute attempt by conservatives to pass a watered-down version.

The island's lawmakers comfortably passed a law allowing same-sex couples to form "exclusive permanent unions" and a second clause that would let them apply for a "marriage registration" with government agencies.

The vote is a major victory for the island's LGBT community who have campaigned for years to have similar or equal marriage rights as heterosexual couples and places the island at the vanguard of Asia's burgeoning gay rights movement.

In recent months, conservatives had mobilised to rid the law of any reference to marriage, instead putting forward rival Bills that offered something closer to limited same-sex unions. But those Bills struggled to receive enough votes.

Hundreds of gay rights supporters gathered despite heavy rain near Taipei's Parliament as a mammoth legislative debate got under way over an issue that has bitterly divided the island.

Conservative and religious groups have been buoyed by a series of referendum wins in November, in which voters comprehensively rejected defining marriage as anything other than a union between a man and a woman.

President Tsai Ing-wen has said the government's Bill respects both the court judgment and the referendum.

"I hope everybody can be considerate and tolerate different opinions to show Taiwan is a mature civil society that is capable of handling a divisive issue," she said on Tuesday.

Ms Tsai's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) holds the majority in Parliament, occupying 68 out of 113 seats.