RYang and Li like to compare their relationship to a Shakespeare play. The two met when Li, a Chinese native, visited Ryan's Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung in 2016. What began as a brief conversation by the city's “Love River” quickly blossomed into a romance that ignored years of tension between the two countries.
Rigg returned to the Chinese capital, Beijing, while Ryan, who runs a guesthouse, remained in Taiwan, but the couple maintained a long-distance relationship for many years before deciding to marry.
“Like Romeo and Juliet, we wanted a happy ending,” Ryan says. “There were a lot of obstacles to their love, but if it's destined, nothing can stop it.”
When Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage in 2019, people thought a happy ending was in sight.
But while others in Taiwan's LGBTQ+ community celebrated, their joy was tempered by the knowledge that more than 100 couples have been barred from marrying because one partner is a Chinese national.
“We were sad, but we had to take part in other people's celebrations even though we couldn't celebrate for ourselves,” Lai said.
Because of national security reasons and Taiwan's complicated relationship with China, Taiwan governs most cross-strait marriages under its own laws that require couples to marry in China before they can have their marriage recognized in Taiwan. Couples are then interviewed for marriage recognition and undergo a vetting process to ensure the Chinese spouse does not pose a security or intelligence threat.
But same-sex marriage is still not recognised in China, leaving many couples in legal limbo, unable to complete the first step of the process or even get an interview.
Advocacy groups say Taiwan is the only country in the world that restricts same-sex marriage based on nationality.
While Taiwanese citizens like Ryan have the right to live and work in China, many same-sex couples are unwilling to move to mainland China due to the lack of LGBTQ+ freedoms there.
“We want society to accept us, to recognise our marriage and to protect it. Mainland China doesn't recognise that,” Rigg said.
Now, some couples on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have begun taking Taiwanese authorities to court, and with the support of a local human rights group, the Taiwan League for the Promotion of Civil Partnership Rights (TAPCPR), Ryan and Li have been at the forefront of these legal battles.
The couple married in the United States, where same-sex marriage is legal, and have been fighting to have their marriage recognized in Taiwan — if successful, it would likely be Taiwan's first cross-strait same-sex marriage.
“Our lawsuit is important to the entire LGBTQ community in mainland Taiwan, and we're all anxiously awaiting the outcome,” Ryan said.
The case centers on whether the couple can initiate the marriage interview process and directly register their U.S. marriage at a Taiwanese registry office. Courts have twice ruled in favor of the couple in part, but after more than three years of litigation, the couple remains unable to marry.
Following a ruling in early August that the Immigration Bureau should allow Ryan and Rigg access to interview procedures, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said it recognised the issue “may cause controversy in society” and was conducting further consultations.
Sino-Taiwan relations and LGBTQ+ issues remain contentious for some in Taiwan, with TAPCPR arguing that the issues have become administrative matters and that no government department is willing to take responsibility for making the final decision.
“Cross-strait couples should naturally have a legal basis to marry in Taiwan,” said Victoria Hsu, a lawyer with the Taiwanese Human Rights Organization. “I think it's a matter of political will.”
Xu argues that if the president gives the “green light” to cross-strait marriage equality, this issue would be resolved immediately.
“We hope that our lawsuit will change the government's stance and encourage them to take the necessary steps to achieve true marriage equality,” Su said.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party told the Guardian that “the freedom of Taiwanese people to marry for any reason should be respected and protected by law.” [of] “The nationality of the fiancé is irrelevant. We believe the government will propose a bill that balances people's right to marry with national security.”
“The general mood within our community is largely one of pessimism, and some people are so depressed they don't even feel anger. Getting mad doesn't seem to help anything. Rather it's a deep sadness, a feeling that there is no hope left,” Ryan said.
But he says the legal action is like a lifeline for the entire community.
“Without that, people will feel even more helpless.”
With Edison Tseng
