In a rather remarkable, progressive, and individually rights-minded decision, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled that its Constitution guarantees the right of same-sex couples of get married and ordered the legislature to change its laws within the next couple of years.  Here’s a link to the Court’s official English-language press release, and general webpage which has a link to Chinese-language full opinion.  In the first footnote of the Chinese language opinion, the Court cites the 2015 US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell.

That makes Taiwan the first place in Asia to allow gay marriage and shows how different from mainland China it is now as a society, in terms of its values, commitment to individual rights, and the rule of law.   I’ll be in Taiwan in a few weeks to speak at a water pollution conference, and I’ll be really interested to see this plays out there.