【英语生活】台湾承认变性人婚姻合法有效

Taiwan's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community scored a small victory this week when the government recognized the marriage of a transgender couple, but the island is still a long way off from legalizing same-sex marriages.

Both male at birth, Ms. Jiyi Ng and Ms. Abbygail Wu underwent sex reassignment surgeries last July, three months before they registered for marriage. Prior to the registration, only Ms. Wu changed her gender to female on her national identity card.

Taiwan's law stipulates a couple must consist of a man and a woman for a marriage to be legally binding.

Although Ms. Ng. and Ms. Wu successfully registered as a married couple last year, the government in June invalidated their marriage when it was discovered that Ms. Ng had changed her gender to female after registration.

The case has received a lot of media attention and stoked public discussion about the marital rights of the LGBT community in Taiwan. On Wednesday, after a lengthy public hearing and a closed-door meeting, the Ministry of Interior agreed to reinstate the couple's martial status, saying the marriage was valid because both Ms. Ng and Ms. Wu were legally recognized as belonging to opposite genders at the time of registration.

In a statement, the interior ministry said the decision was based on a 1994 ruling in which the Ministry of Justice said a change of gender during a legally recognized marriage does not affect a person's martial standing and the person's relationship with his or her offspring.

On hearing the news, the elated couple kissed in front of a crowd of supporters and thanked the government for recognizing their marriage.

A similar case took place in Hong Kong in May, when a post-operative male-to-female transgender woman won the right to marry her male partner.

However, Taiwan's LGBT rights groups caution that the case does not signal Taiwan is ready to rewrite its marriage law yet.

'Protection of marriage and the right to marry is part of basic human rights, which means the decision was delayed justice but nothing groundbreaking,' said Chien Chih-chieh, the secretary-general of Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights.

The case, in fact, shows the government is still unwilling to budge from the current regulation that states a marriage can take place only between a man and a woman, she said.

The only silver lining, she said, is that the public and the government seem more willing to discuss the issue, which gives the group hope that a bill on recognizing same-sex marriages they plan to pitch to the legislature in September may meet less resistance.

Taiwan has a reputation for being liberal, and the capital Taipei was named one of Asia's top 10 gay-friendly travel destinations last year by gaytravel.com. Taiwan has hosted gay pride parades since 2003, with attendance increasing each year and hitting 50,000 in 2012.

'We hope the day that the acceptance of our community is as high as its visibility will come soon, ' Ms. Chien said.

台湾的男同性恋、女同性恋、双性恋和变性者群体本周取得了一项小胜利，政府承认了一对变性人伴侣的婚姻，但在同性婚姻合法化方面，台湾仍有很长一段路要走。

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images 2003年以来，台湾每年都举办同性恋骄傲大游行，参加者逐年递增，2012年达到5万人。吴芷仪(Jiyi Ng)和吴伊婷(Abbygail Wu)出生时均为男性，去年7月两人接受了变性手术，三个月后她们登记结婚。在登记结婚前，只有吴伊婷将身份证上的性别从男性改成了女性。

台湾的法律规定，具有法律约束力的婚姻必须由一男一女构成。

尽管吴芷仪和吴伊婷去年成功登记结婚，但政府今年6月撤销了她们的婚姻关系，因为他们发现吴芷仪在登记结婚后将性别改成了女性。

此事得到媒体高度关注，并且促使台湾进行了有关同性恋社区婚姻权利的公开讨论。周三，在结束了一个漫长的公开听证会和一个闭门会议后，台湾内政部同意恢复吴芷仪和吴伊婷的婚姻状况，说其婚姻有效，因为这两人在登记结婚时互为异性，这一点受到法律认可。

台湾内政部在声明中说，该决定依据1994年的一项判决做出。台湾司法部当时说，在受法律认可的婚姻关系存续过程中，一方改变性别不影响其已婚身份，也不影响其与子女的关系。

听到这个消息后，这对兴高采烈的夫妇当着众多支持者的面相互亲吻，感谢政府承认其婚姻。

香港今年5月也有类似事情发生，一名接受手术从男子变为女子的人赢得了与其男伴侣结婚的权利。

不过，台湾同性恋权利组织提醒说，这件事并不预示着台湾准备随时改写婚姻法。

台湾伴侣权益推动联盟(Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights)秘书长简至洁说，对婚姻的保护和结婚的权利属于基本人权，也就意味着这个决定是迟来的正义，但不具有任何突破性。

简至洁说，这件事实际上表明，政府仍不愿让步，改变只有一男一女才能登记结婚的现有法规。

她说，唯一一个亮点是，公众和政府似乎更愿意讨论这个问题，这也让该联盟有了希望，认为一项承认同性婚姻的法案届时遇到的阻力可能较小。他们准备在9月份向“立法院”力荐该法案。

台湾以自由著称，其首府台北去年被同性恋旅游网站gaytravel.com评为亚洲10大同性恋友好旅游目的地之一。2003年以来，台湾每年都举办同性恋骄傲大游行，参加者逐年递增，2012年达到5万人。

简至洁说，我们的愿望是人们对同性恋社区的接受度能像其受关注度一样高，希望这一天尽快到来。