On Tuesday, Taiwan's legislature passed an amendment allowing same-sex couples to legally adopt children without a blood relationship.
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This lifts restrictions that barred members of same-sex marriages from being legal parents unless the child is the biological offspring of one of the partners.
Promoter of the bill, ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Fan Yun, welcomed the legislature's decision, claiming that it "guarantees the protection of children's rights, but also responds to their best interests."
The same-sex marriage law extended to joint adoption is a change demanded by the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights since the legalization of same-sex marriage four years ago.
The alliance called the parliament's decision on "non-blood-related adoption by same-sex couples" a "success that demonstrates that the consensus in Taiwan is to protect the human rights of LGBTIQ+ people and promote gender equality."
In January this year, the island took another step in favor of the LGBTIQ+ community. Then-premier Su Tseng-chang adopted a measure allowing locals to marry a foreign same-sex spouse.
The measure applies to all jurisdictions, with mainland China as the only exception. Previously, foreigners could not marry their Taiwanese partners if they came from territories that banned same-sex marriage.