「The public have used their ballots to tell the governing authorities what is the mainstream opinion and the result represents a victory for all people who cherish family values and how such values should be taught in schools to the young generation,」 said Tseng Hsien-yin, leader of the Coalition for the Happiness of our Next Generation.
He said his organisation and other family values groups would 「see that the government revise or institute relevant laws and implement the relevant education guidelines for the school curriculums in line with the results」.
「We will ... send our drafted bill to the parliament as soon as possible for review and passage because we respect same-sex partnerships and believe there should be a special law for them,」 he continued.
The pro-family camp won between 5.2 and 6.1 million votes in the three referendums. Each measure needed a minimum of 4.9 million votes to pass.
By contrast, two counter measures – to rewrite the civil code to include same-sex unions and to include same-sex relationships in gender equality education classes – failed to secure enough votes, each being backed by around 2.8 million people.
「Our referendums failed not because only a few people support marriage equality, but because we had not been good enough at canvassing support in the way the Coalition for Happiness were,」 said Miao Poya, who initiated a campaign for marriage equality referendum.
The pro-family groups』 campaign had been well-funded by a number of Christian organisations.
In a statement, the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights accused the pro-family groups of spreading disinformation to smear marriage equality proposals, by describing them as perverted and linking them to the spread of Aids.
It also accused the groups of illegally swinging votes by handing out publicity material around polling stations. Campaigning once the polls have opened is banned under the island’s electoral law.
「Despite all obstacles, we will continue to fight for same-sex equality rights and use our love and wisdom to shatter all lies until we achieve our goal,」 it said.
Amnesty International called on the Taiwanese government to deliver equality and dignity, saying the result was「a bitter blow and a step backwards for human rights in Taiwan」.
Wang Ting-yu, an associate instructor of law at Soochow University and advocate of marriage equality, said although the government had to revise legislation in line with the referendum result, these laws could not supersede the constitution.
This means that same-sex partnerships will still be able to be registered as planned next May, although the couples may not enjoy the same legal protections that changes to the civil code would have given them.
「If the pro-LBGT group finds the protections for same-sex couples inadequate, they can always hold another referendum two years later to call for the revision of the special law,」 he said.
He said family values groups had also been calling for the removal of LGBT material in school text books on gender equality.
But Wang said the law stated that children needed to be taught to respect gay people and this was what the books covered, dismissing a claim by campaigners that children were being taught about gay sex.
Asked if he felt Taiwan’s image as a beacon for LGBT rights in Asia would be dampened by the referendum, Wang said gay right movements in each country were different, adding that the opposition same-sex marriage faced only reflected the nature of Taiwanese society.
「After all, it takes time to get a majority consensus or approval for things that the conservative class finds hard to accept,」 he added.