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Taiwan Votes Against Marriage Equality

Despite the results of the vote, an estimated 71% of Taiwanese citizens support marriage equality.

Voters in Taiwan have rejected the legalization of marriage equality in a series of ballot referenda put to a vote this weekend.

The issue of equal marriage was the subject of three separate referenda, put forward by rival political groups, reports BBC. (Leading up to this weekend's vote, LGBTQ advocates fought against putting the decision in the hands of the public, but "pro-family" conservatives from Taiwan's Christian population persevered.)

CHRIS STOWERS/AFP/Getty Images

A woman takes part in a rally in support of same-sex marriage near the Presidential Office in Taipei on November 18, 2018, ahead of a landmark vote on LGBT rights on November 24. - Taiwan's top court in May 2017 legalised gay marriage, the first place in Asia to do so, and ruled its decision must be implemented within two years. (Photo by Chris STOWERS / AFP) (Photo credit should read CHRIS STOWERS/AFP/Getty Images)

Voters were asked if the current legal definition of marriage—a union between a man and a woman—should remain unchanged, among other questions concerning same-sex couples. Despite the fact that an estimated 71% of Taiwanese citizens actually support marriage equality, a majority of voters sided with the anti-equality platforms from conservative groups.

The referenda come more than a year after Taiwan's high court ruled in favor of marriage equality, establishing that laws barring same-sex couples from tying the knot were discriminatory and unconstitutional. Though the ruling was a step in the right direction, the ball fell in the court of Taiwan's legislature to either amend the nation's civil code or pass a new law enabling same-sex couples to wed.

Alberto Buzzola/LightRocket via Getty Images

TAIPEI, TAIWAN - 2018/11/18: A huge crowd takes part of the LGBT organized rally in occasion of the incoming referendum on gays and lesbians rights to marry. Taiwan was the first Asian country to legalize such marriage but there are still legal issues that need to be resolved through a referendum. In the referendum people will be asked to answer yes or no to a series of questions that concerned some technicalities of the marriage. here the crowd lift a placard that indicates what questions must be answered with a no. (Photo by Alberto Buzzola/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Although the results of the vote on the referenda seem to have prohibited Taiwan's parliament from amending the formal definition of marriage, authorities are still expected to pass a new law in line with the court's 2017 decision.

However, the discrepancy between the court's ruling and the public's opinion has prompted some serious confusion: Taiwanese legal experts are split on whether the country's administration is actually required to incorporate these results into the law—and queer activists worry that the resulting legislation will be weakened by the public's disapproval.

One correspondent told BBC that this means gay couples could gain legal protections, but technically still be barred from marrying.

In a statement to CNN, Amnesty International Taiwan's acting director Annie Huang called the results of this weekend's vote "a bitter blow and a step backwards for human rights" in the Asian nation.

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