29 May, 2017
The Taiwanese parliament will be forced to change the current laws or pass new separate civil partnership legislation if the top court deems the current law is unconstitutional, the BBC noted.
And outside Taipei's parliament, the celebrations continued.
In certain areas of the world, while gay marriage is not yet legal, it's not considered a crime.
"The said provision to the extent of such failure are in violation f both people's freedom of marriage as protected by Article 22 and people's right to equality as guaranteed by article 7 of the Constitution".
At least 10 of the 14 judges must rule in favour of same-sex marriage in order for it to be legalised, AFP reports.
"This explanation is a step forward in the history of Taiwan's same-sex marriage", said Yu Mei-nu, a Taiwanese legislator.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activists, after years of campaigning for same-sex marriage, welcomed the court's backing.
LGBT activists are now holding a celebratory rally near the legislature building.
Taiwan's grand justices decided in early 2017 they would hear the case for same-sex marriages in the constitutional court, a year and half after gay rights activist Chi Chia-wei made an appeal to them to consider if Taiwanese authorities have breached the constitution by repeatedly denying him the right to Wednesday his partner. The court wrote that the legislature has moved to slowly in granting this right, but because "these petitions involve the protection of people's fundamental rights", the time to act is now.
Supporters react during a rally after Taiwan's constitutional court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to legally marry.
"This is a clear victory for equal rights in marriage and it is also a victory for all the people", said Victoria Hsu, the lead lawyer supporting Chi's case.
Past attempts to legalise same-sex marriage stalled under the Kuomintang, which dominated politics for decades until it was unseated by President Tsai Ing-wen's Democratic Progressive Party previous year.
Chang Shou-yi, head of the group, said, "What gay activists want is for their lifestyle to be affirmed by society, but why do they need to change the traditional institution of marriage, which goes back thousands of years?".
No Asian nations are on the 23-strong list of countries that have legalized same-sex marriage, according to Pew Research, although it was permitted in New Zealand in 2013.
