A gay Taiwanese-Macanese couple were given the right to marry after winning their landmark case this past May.
According to a report from Agence France Presse, Ting Tse-yen and Guzifer Leong were able to legally get married in Taiwan after suffering pushback from the government.
Although same-sex marriage is legal in the country, a loophole was discovered that prevented a Taiwanese person from marrying a partner that’s from a country where gay marriage is illegal.
Ting is from Taiwan whereas Leong is from Macau, which currently doesn’t recognize same-sex partnerships.
In an effort to fight for their right to marry, the two newlyweds challenged the Taiwanese legislation and won the case back in May.
“We’ve waited for two years and we finally can get married,” said Ting.
Although this landmark win has worked in favour of Ting and Leong, the LGBTQ+ community as a whole will not be able to take part in this celebration.
Other couples with similar situations will also have to pursue legal action against the legislation in a court of law.
“This is an initial success. other international couples still can’t get marry and we call for full recognition,” Ting said.
Leong echoed similar sentiments, stating: “We hope our registration today will let the government see that marriage equality has yet be realised.”
Alongside getting married, the couple started a group to help other Taiwanese-based couples who may be facing the same problem.
Victoria Hsu, who represented Ting and Leong in court, opened up about the current rules surrounding same-sex marriage in a statement.
“Marriage is a basic human right and it’s unimaginable that there is discriminatory treatment because one’s partner comes from a certain country,” she said.
“Can heterosexual citizens accept if they are allowed to wed an American but not a Japanese?”
Back in 2019, Taiwan legalised same-sex marriage on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (17 May).
The legalisation came just a week before the date the Supreme Court had ordered the country to have taken action.
Nearly 200,000 people walked the streets during the Taipei Pride march to celebrate the landmark ruling.
Since the legislation passed nearly 6,000 same-sex weddings have taken place.
Related: A high court in Taiwan rules in favour of international same-sex marriages.
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