Same-Sex Marriage in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan: Ideologies, Spaces and Developments

Abstract

Same-sex marriage or other forms of legal recognition of same-sex relationships are highly controversial. They not only stir up debates and massive mobilization between camps which differ in terms of their antithetical moral evaluations of homoerotic sexuality but also create deep disagreement within LGBTQI groups (we use “LGBTQI” (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex), “LBGT”, “LBT” and “tongzhi” in different parts of this chapter according to the historical relevance, cultural context of discussion and the term that is used in the cited articles) as to whether marriage is a just institution worth joining. This chapter looks into the ideological landscapes, institutional space of campaigns and discourses of same-sex marriage in People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and current developments and arguments of same-sex marriage in these three Chinese-speaking societies.