Jacques Camille Picoux (9 November 1948 – 16 October 2016) was a lecturer on French language and literature at

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imper ...

who died by suicide on 16 October 2016. He held a solo artist's exhibition in 2012 and was also known for playing the character Kong Kong in the 2015 film '' The Assassin'' directed by

Hou Hsiao-hsien Hou Hsiao-hsien (; born 8 April 1947) is a Mainland Chinese-born Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a leading figure in world cinema and in Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement. He won the Golden Lion at the Venic ...

Impact on Taiwanese society

A prominent member of the LGBT community who had lived there since 1979, Picoux was 68 years old. His death generated a wave of public sympathy for the LGBT community, and catalyzed the Legislative Yuan to propose bills for the legalization of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

. According to Picoux friends, he decided to end his life because he had no legal rights to make medical decisions on behalf of his cancer-stricken partner, Tseng Ching-chao, nor did he have any legal rights to the home they had shared for nearly 40 years. Tseng was the global agent of notable Chinese actress

Gong Li Gong Li ( Chinese: 巩俐; born 31 December 1965) is a Chinese actress. She starred in three of the four Chinese-language films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Gong was born in Shenyang, Liaon ...

. Picoux's death led to criticisms of the newly elected President

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served a ...

, who had campaigned on promises to legalize same-sex marriage. Public polls around the time showed that nearly three-quarters of the Taiwanese people supported same-sex marriage. In 2019, Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage, and many people held a remembrance for Picoux at the time. Some groups in Taiwan have honoured him when advocating for LGBT rights in Taiwan, promising that there won't "be another Jacques Picoux"-like tragedy.

Drafting of new legislation

LGBT rights advocates have said that there may now be a breakthrough in legislation, with an increase of support for same-sex marriage among members of the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel ...

. Taiwanese ''Pride Watch'' activist Cindy Su says that "We actually can see that there are about 66 legislators who will probably vote yes on marriage equality", making it a majority of 58.4%. Former Grand Justice

Hsu Tzong-li Hsu Tzong-li (; born 10 February 1956) is a Taiwanese judge who has served as the President of the Judicial Yuan since 2016. Academic career Hsu studied at National Taiwan University and later, in 1986, obtained his PhD in law (Dr.iur.) from t ...

has said that if it can be proved that homosexuals are a natural minority that have been misunderstood as abnormal, then it follows that the laws stating marriage is only between a man and a woman could be considered unconstitutional. Justice Hsu will become the nation's next Judicial Yuan President, after lawmakers approved his nomination in October 2016.

Yu Mei-nu Yu Mei-nu (; born 28 January 1955) is a Taiwanese politician. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party, she served in the Legislative Yuan from 2012 to 2020. Education and early career Yu obtained her bachelor's and master's degree in la ...

, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, has drafted a new law to be presented to legislators, and it may be passed as early as next year. If it does pass, Taiwan would be the first Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage. Homosexuality is considered taboo in many East Asian countries, and is illegal across much of South Asia. President Tsai is an open supporter of same-sex marriage, and has said she would support any decision made by the parliament.

Same-sex marriage in Taiwan Same-sex marriage in Taiwan became legal on 24 May 2019, making Taiwan the first state in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. On 24 May 2017, the Constitutional Court of the Judicial Yuan ruled that the existing law which only defined marriage a ...

became legal on 24 May 2019. This made Taiwan the first nation in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

to recognize

LGBT rights in Taiwan

Taiwan is considered a very progressive society regarding gay rights, in a region where citizens of some countries can still be jailed for being gay. In December 2016, Taiwan's highest health authority announced plans to ban

Conversion Therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...

, which aims to change a person's sexual orientation. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said that the ban would take effect from March 2017. However, Taiwanese author Chu Hsin-yi (瞿欣怡), has criticized Taiwan for "calling itself gay-friendly... while being unwilling to let loose, even a bit, regulations affecting gay rights." Despite fervent campaigning from anti-LGBT rights groups, LGBT rights in Taiwan made a historic step forward in 2019 with the legalisation of same-sex marriage. Though there are still some things missing from the introduction of same-sex marriage, such as international spouses from countries that do not allow same-sex marriages to be performed being barred from marrying in Taiwan itself, it is viewed as a great move forward for LGBT rights in the region.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Picoux, Jacques French male actors 21st-century French male actors 2016 deaths 1948 births French emigrants Immigrants to Taiwan LGBT male actors Academic staff of the National Taiwan University 2016 in Taiwan 2010s in Taipei zh:畢安生