The Taipei High Administrative Court this week rejected an appeal by two women against the government's ongoing refusal to acknowledge their marriage.
According to Taiwan's Liang Tzung-huei and Chu Pei-shuan were married in Canada in 2014 but their request to register as a married couple was rejected by the Household Registration Office that year.
In May of this year, the Judicial Yuan's panel of fifteen Justices issued a ruling finding that Taiwan's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and in violation of its people's freedoms to marry and right to equality.
The court gave the Legislative Yuan (another branch of government) a two-year deadline to amend the laws to reflect the court's decision, stating that if they failed to meet that deadline same-sex couples could register their relationships anyway. "Two persons of the same sex who intend to create a permanent union may apply for marriage registration," the statement said.
"Any such two persons," the , "once registered, shall be accorded the status of a legally recognised couple, and then enjoy the rights and bear the obligations arising on couples".
After the ruling Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen calling the decision a moment to treat everyone "as brothers and sisters".
Despite the landmark decision by the courts marking Taiwan the first Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage, Liang and Chu's marriage has still not been formally recognised. Due to the two-year timeframe, the legislation has not officially been passed into law and the court doesn't have the ability to put pressure on the Household Registration Office until the deadline has been reached.
According to , Liang and Chu will appeal the court's decision while they wait for the legal framework to recognise same-sex marriages in Taiwan to pass.
