13 Photos From Taiwan’s First Same-Sex Buddhist Marriage
Huang Mei-yu and Yu Ya-ting wed Saturday in a traditional Buddhist ceremony. Their union still isn’t recognized by the Taiwanese government, though support for gay marriage is mounting across Asia.
By Jessica Testa on Buzzfeed
Buddhist Master Shih Chao-hwei performed the ceremony, giving the women his full support: “I am certain you will lead a life of happiness together, especially after you have overcome so much difficulty and societal discrimination,” he said. “You have blessings not only from the Buddha, but also from those whom you may or may not know who are in attendance.”
Same-Sex Buddhist Nuptials of the Day: Their union may not be legal, but Yu Ya-ting and Huang Mei-yu on Saturday becameTaiwan’s first lesbian couple to be married in a Buddhist ceremony.
Huang said the couple hoped that a wedding blessed by a Buddhist master would encourage more Taiwanese, 80 percent of whom are Buddhist, to support same-sex marriage.
“I remember when I told my parents that we would get married, their first question was, ‘Is this legal?’” Huang said. “I could only say to them that it would soon, but I didn’t know when would be considered soon. So we hope it will become legal.”
[buzzfeed]
