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Taiwan recognizes first same gender marriage between a Japanese-Taiwanese couple.

By on July 22, 2022

In May last year, Japanese-Taiwanese same gender couple – Eizaburo Ariyoshi, 42, and Lu Yin-jen, 34,  submitted a notification of their marriage to authorities in the southern Taiwan county of Pingtung where they live.

The authorities flatly rejected the registration citing ‘such a marriage is not legally recognized’ by Ariyoshi’s home country, Japan.

In December 2021,  the couple filed a lawsuit seeking the revocation of the rejection.

In Thursday’s ruling, the Taipei High Administrative Court ordered local authorities to accept the marriage notification submitted by the couple adding that “deciding whom to marry is an important basic right guaranteed under the Taiwanese Constitution.”

“Refusing to approve a marriage based on Japanese law,  constitutes unreasonable discriminatory treatment,” adds the ruling.

Following the court decision, the first same-sex marriage between Japanese and Taiwanese people in Taiwan is expected to be formalized.

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