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But the decision, which gave legislators a two-year time frame for bringing marriage equality into law, may soon be in doubt.
Conservative groups took advantage of the government's stalemate to rally against change, forcing the issue to a public vote, devastating LGBT couples and potentially plunging President Tsai Ing-wen's administration into a constitutional crisis .
On Saturday, three Taiwanese voters will go to the polls for the local elections, namely three referendum questions on gay marriage: two by conservatives and one by LGBT activists.
If one of the issues relating to the opposition to same-sex marriage is passed, the government could be forced to enforce a law already declared unconstitutional.
To further complicate matters, there is widespread disagreement among legal experts as to whether Tsai's administration is mandated to promulgate the result.
A legislator of the Progressive Democratic Party of the President told CNN that any positive result "should be adopted" in the next legislative session, but a legal expert insisted that "it is incumbent upon legislators" to know how they managed the result.
Change your opinion
Taiwan is home to one of the largest and most vibrant homosexual communities in Asia. Many of its citizens are very proud of the progressive values that favor the LGBT community of the island.
But as polling day approaches, fears grow that these same values are beginning to change, as lesbian and gay groups claim to be a stream of deliberate misinformation aimed at confusing the mind. of the public before the historic ballot.
"Referendums have already caused a lot of division and damage in our society, there are so many conflicts in the streets," said Lin Yiru, who hopes to marry his girlfriend Chen Yiling if a law is passed.
"This is no longer just a referendum … Whatever the result, damage has already been caused," Lin added.
On all social media, rumors have circulated about what could happen in Taiwan if same-sex marriage became lawful, including false reports that other countries that have adopted the laws have become illegal. have regretted.
"The opposition says," If Taiwan succeeds in equalizing the marriage, HIV-positive people will come to Taiwan and flood our health system "and" Ministers will teach homosexual behavior in primary school in the first year , the "same sex". Marriage lawyer Jennifer Lu told CNN.
"We are training to discuss political issues with people of different opinions.It's not just same-sex marriage, it's our democracy, where all views are protected." Lu added.
Groups opposing the legalization of same-sex marriage in Taiwan were contacted by CNN for this article but did not return a request for interview.
Do you agree?
Saturday's referendum is confusing to say the least.
Three separate questions having been asked about the issue of the equality of marriages, nothing prevents a single voter from accepting various contradictory answers, which means that the Taiwan government might be forced to attempt to legislate simultaneously to get both results.
There is even confusion as to why the issue is submitted to voters and not decided directly by lawmakers.
In May 2017, the Constitutional Court of Taiwan declared that same-sex marriage was a constitutional right, giving legislators two years to legalize it.
But the parliament could not agree on the bill and became stuck.
With the government stuck, Taiwanese conservatives have had the opportunity to use the recently revised referendum law – under which any suggested question that must get a minimum of 280,000 signatures must be put to the people – to block the marriage same sex.
After exceeding the number of signatures required by referendum for a referendum to be held, the electoral authorities succeeded in submitting two of them on same-sex marriage: "Do you agree that the rules of the Code should limit marriage to a man or a woman? " And "Do you agree that the right of same-sex couples to live together should be protected so as not to require amendment of the Civil Code?"
In response, LGBT activists got enough signatures to add their own question to the referendum: "Do you agree that the marriage rules of the Civil Code should be used to guarantee the right of same-sex couples to get married?" marry?"
Adding to the confusion, there is a separate LGBT issue, also proposed by conservative groups, that aims to reduce inclusive LGBT education in elementary and secondary schools on the island.
A pre-election survey conducted by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation and published earlier this month showed that no less than 77% of respondents thought that marriage should be defined only between a man and a woman.
But that does not mean that the vote is a lost conclusion. For a referendum to be adopted, 25% of eligible voters in the country must vote "Yes", which equals about 4.7 million votes, while outnumbering the "no" vote.
LGBT crisis in Asia
While Taiwan is facing a slow but steady battle for equality, many of its neighbors in Asia are regressing in their recognition of LGBT people.
Indonesia is one of the most serious examples, but Malaysia and the Philippines are also following suit.
Human Rights Watch senior researcher Maya Wang said that despite the turmoil around the referendum, Taiwan was seen as a source of inspiration for LGBT rights activists in the region.
"What is happening in Taiwan is generating a lot of enthusiasm in the region for LGBT activists, including those in mainland China and Hong Kong, where the possibility of legalizing it would legitimize pressure from other governments in the region," he said. she said. CNN.
Chen and Lin, LGBT activists in Taiwan, said that fighting will be worth it if it encourages change in the region and allows them to marry and adopt children someday.
"Even though there were difficulties and suffering along the way, I think that the referendums helped to bring out this problem, and in the past we did not even talk about it," he said. Chen.
"Now we have to create a dialogue."
