Taipei, Feb. 13 (CNA) The majority of homosexuals in Taiwan want same-sex marriage to be legalized and hope their relationships will one day be protected by law like heterosexuals, the results of an online survey released by a gay rights advocacy group on the eve of Valentine's day showed.
The survey, conducted by Taiwan Tongzhi (Homosexuals) Hotline Association (TTHA), showed 89 percent of homosexuals in the survey wanted same-sex marriage to be legalized in Taiwan, with 57 percent of respondents saying they would marry once same-sex marriage is
legalized.
"Only a handful of countries have legalized same-sex marriages, including Canada, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands and some states in the U.S. We hope Taiwan will join the list soon, " said Cheng Chi-wei, TTHA's director of social work.
A large majority of respondents -- 81 percent -- said same-sex marriage should be legalized because "it is a civil right." And 90 percent of those polled who wanted to marry said they wanted to be protected by the law and have the same income tax benefits and health insurance coverage as heterosexual couples.
However, only 37 percent of respondents wanted to have children. Thirty percent responded that they did not want to have children while 37 percent said they were unsure.
There were 300 participants in the online survey, with 47 percent identifying themselves as gay, 28 percent as lesbian, 14 as bisexual and 11 percent as transsexual.
In 1998, the TTHA became the first registered LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) association in Taiwan, and was created as a source of support for gays and lesbians.