Same-Sex Foreign Couple Fight for Marriage Recognition in Taiwan
A transnational couple is taking their case to court after Taiwan refused to recognize their U.S. marriage certificate.
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00:00 "I couldn't get a sign off.
00:02 What happened is that he's been...
00:04 The dorm is huge, so I'm like...
00:06 Um..."
00:08 Enjoying a rare day together in his apartment in Taipei,
00:12 speech and debate coach Chase Williams
00:14 is with his husband, Mark Maccabietes.
00:17 They seldom see each other,
00:19 as they're forced to live cities apart.
00:21 Because Maccabietes, who's Filipino,
00:24 is in Taiwan on an extremely restrictive
00:27 migrant factory worker's visa,
00:29 which means he has to live where he works,
00:32 and that's partway across the country,
00:34 away from his husband.
00:36 "We don't have any other options right now.
00:38 This is like the option that we're going through."
00:40 The couple met in Taiwan,
00:42 and have both lived here for over five years.
00:45 But only Williams, who's American,
00:47 has been able to apply for permanent residency.
00:50 On his restrictive visa,
00:52 Maccabietes can only leave Taiwan once per year.
00:55 And in 2022, the couple used that
00:58 to get married in the U.S.,
01:00 hoping Mark could then live in Taiwan
01:02 on a more flexible marriage visa.
01:05 But they faced a problem when they got back to Taiwan.
01:08 "We ran into an issue where Taiwan wouldn't recognize
01:12 our valid U.S. marriage
01:14 because of a gap in marriage equality here."
01:18 Courts in Taiwan only recognize same-sex marriages
01:23 between foreigners if both people are from countries
01:26 that allow same-sex unions,
01:28 a condition that doesn't factor in
01:31 if one of the pair is Taiwanese
01:33 or for heterosexual couples.
01:35 It's an inequity that has led Williams and Maccabietes,
01:38 whose home country doesn't recognize same-sex unions,
01:41 to the courts.
01:43 "A lot of the arguments we're making in our filing
01:45 are about how foreigners are treated in Taiwan
01:48 across multiple sort of government decisions,
01:51 and how there's an inconsistency
01:53 between residents and citizens."
01:55 According to rights activists,
01:57 those inconsistencies between locals and foreigners
02:00 and homosexual and heterosexual people
02:03 stem from the way Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage
02:06 back in 2019.
02:08 "In Taiwan, same-sex marriage is legalized
02:12 in a special law,
02:14 so it's not to amend our civil code.
02:18 So some rights are different
02:20 from what straight people have in the civil code."
02:24 But lawyers for Williams and Maccabietes
02:26 are confident their case will be heard
02:29 and bring full equality to marriage laws moving forward.
02:33 The couple have several months to wait
02:47 before their case gets heard.
02:49 For now, they'll continue cherishing
02:51 their scarce days together
02:53 until Taiwan's courts bring full equality
02:55 into its marriage laws
02:57 and allow them to pursue the married life
02:59 they'd dreamed of.
03:01 Justin Wu, Patrick Chen, Scott Huang,
03:03 Rick Glowat and Rhys Ayres for Taiwan Plus.
03:07 For more stories, visit nyseagrant.org/CurrentsClips