The political backlash of anti-homosexuality in Taiwan’s same-sex marriage legalization

With Interpretation No. 748 officially recognizing the legality of same-sex marriage in Taiwan in 2017, a referendum war between pro- and anti-LGBT groups began the following year. This article aims to analyse how Taiwan, which has long been considered LGBT-friendly, suddenly became a place where anti-LGBT sentiments surged. We argue that anti-LGBT groups successfully aroused doubts among the Taiwanese public about same-sex marriage by highlighting traditional stereotypes of gender roles and the importance of reproduction for family succession. Furthermore, by emphasizing the potential impacts on social order caused by same-sex marriage, they successfully persuaded supporters of the Democratic Progressive Party to vote against same-sex marriage. Our hypotheses are further confirmed through an analysis of the post-referendum World Values Survey data.