Moment of pride: Two same-sex couples to get married in Taiwanese military mass wedding

In a first, two same-sex couple will be getting married inTaiwanese army’s annual mass wedding ceremony that will be held this week. This is the first time such a ceremony will allow same-sex couples to legalise their marriage.

The decision has come 18 months after the Taiwanese government legalised and gave equal rights to same-sex couples.

The ceremony will have various soldiers getting married to their civilian/army partners. The two couples areChen Ying-xuan and Lee Ying-ying, and Wang Yi and Meng Youmei.

“Our country … has become the first in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage and the ministry gives its blessings to same-sex servicemen who are getting married,” the Taiwanese military said.

Taiwan has emerged as one of the most forward-thinking Asian countries in the past few years with itsself-governing democracy. The military posted several pictures of different couples and asked people to vote for their favourite couple.The photo of Wang and Meng has been liked more than 31,000 times on Facebook alone. The pictures of the same-sex couples gained lots of positive comments with people saying, "Love makes Taiwan stronger". Last year, three couples were scheduled to get married, but they later withdrew their names due to reasons unknown.

This is not the first time a same-sex couple will be registering their marriage in Taiwan. Thousands of couples have legalised their marriage after the law was passed 18 months ago.

While all local couples and residents enjoy the freedom and all rights related to same-sex equality. But people from the LGBTQ community who want to marry someone from any other country can only register their marriage if it is permitted in the partner's home country. Activists have called attention on this technicality. The community has also now urged the government to simplify adoption andassisted reproduction rights for same-sex couples in the country.