How would you feel if you couldn’t marry the person you love? Most countries around the world recognize marriage as an act between a man and a woman, but what if you’re a man who loves and wants to marry another man, or a woman who loves and wants to marry another woman? The fight for marriage equality and LGBTQ rights has been and continues to be a long and hard-fought one, but earlier this month, the LGBTQ community celebrated a small but significant victory. The country of Taiwan declared that love is love and that same-sex marriage is legal. How did this historic win happen in the first place?

In 2015, Chi Chia-wei, a gay rights activist, filed a request that the Constitutional Court of Taiwan review a law that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. In 2017, the court ruled that the law was unconstitutional and gave parliament two years to amend it. The law was amended earlier this month and presented to parliament for a vote. The law was passed, and same-sex marriage will be legal in Taiwan beginning May 24th. What did Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan, have to say when the law was passed? She said, “We took a big step towards true equality and made Taiwan a better country.”

Interesting Fact: There are 195 countries in the world, and only twenty-nine have legalized same-sex marriage.

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