Two same-sex couples are to be married in the Taiwanese army’s annual mass wedding ceremony this week, in a first after the island’s government legalised marriage equality 18 months ago. The female soldiers and their civilian partners – Chen Ying-xuan and Lee Ying-ying, and Wang Yi and Meng Youmei – will wed on Friday. Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, has become one of the most progressive communities in Asia since it transitioned from authoritarian rule in the late 1980s. It became the first place in the region to legalise same-sex marriage in May 2019. The military said: “Our country … has become the first in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage and the ministry gives its blessings to same-sex servicemen who are getting married.”