The three referendum proposals made by Taiwan, "Happiness for the Next Generation Alliance" (referred to as the "Happiness Alliance") were passed by the Republic of China (Taiwan) Central Election Commission on April 17th. The three referendum proposals are "marriage definition referendum", "age appropriate same sex education referendum" and "protecting the rights of same-sex couples outside of marriage referendum".
On April 17th, the Happiness Alliance published a press release on facebook stating that the Central Election Commission determined that the three referendums met the regulations and were approved.
The article points out that the purpose of the "marriage definition referendum" is to assure both parties in a marriage to remain one man and one woman, one husband and one wife. "Protecting the rights of same-sex couples outside of marriage referendum" is made according to Interpretation No. 748 issued by the Constitutional Court of Taiwan, so that lawmakers can use civil law to assure the permanent tie between same-sex couples outside the marriage regulations.
After those two referendums passed, the existing heterosexual marriage legal system can be maintained, and new laws made according to the needs of same-sex couples can be designed. The impact on the existing laws is small, yet efficient.
Regarding "age appropriate same-sex education referendum", it is the best protection for the children's physical and psychological health. The article states that the body and mind of secondary and elementary students are still in the stage of development, so they are not yet mature in gender identity and sexual orientation, therefore it is not suitable to implement homosexual education, instill diversified sex education, such as gender spectrum and multiple genders.
In 2003, the divorce rate in Taiwan was the highest in Asia and second in the world. The monogamous marriage is the foundation of social development, therefore the definition of marriage between a man and a woman should not be changed arbitrarily. Otherwise, it will have a great impact on social culture and education. However, in 2005 and 2013, legislators proposed to alter the definition of monogamous marriage and proposed to allow same-sex marriage into the civil law. Taiwan's marriages and families face even greater pressure because of that.
According to the article, the Happiness Alliance will continue to strengthen the promotion of mainstream family policy and hopes that through the referendums on marriage, family and children's education, Taiwan people will pay more attention to Taiwan's marriage and family issues.
(Translated from Chinese.GospelHerald.com)
