Taiwan made history on Friday with Asia’s first legal gay weddings as same-sex couples tied the knot in jubilant and emotional scenes, the culmination of a three-decade fight for equality.
The weddings, which came a week after lawmakers took the unprecedented decision to legalise gay marriage despite staunch conservative opposition, places Taiwan at the vanguard of the burgeoning gay rights movement in Asia.
Some dozen couples were among the first to arrive at a government office in downtown Taipei to legally register their relationships as marriages.
They embraced and kissed in front of the gathered press before proudly holding aloft their wedding certificates and new identity cards listing each other as spouses.
Among those tying the knot were social worker Huang Mei-yu and her partner You Ya-ting.
They held a religious blessing conducted by a progressive Buddhist master in 2012 but longed for the same legal rights granted heterosexuals.
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