TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Over the past few days, Formosa Television has live-streamed debates on each of the 10 public referendums set to take place on Nov 24.

Yesterday morning (Nov. 4), the debate on referendum 14, “Do you agree that the Civil Code marriage regulations should be used to guarantee the rights of same sex couples to get married?” commenced, led by equal marriage proponent DPP legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康). National Chung Cheng University law professor, Tseng Pin-jie (曾品傑), provided the voice of opposition.

In the first round of speaking, Tuan pleaded with the public to put themselves in the shoes of their LGBT compatriots and said that love between two consenting adults should receive equal protection under the law.

Opponents of equal marriage often say that democratic law should respect the rights and wishes of the majority rather than conferring minorities preferential treatment. Tuan contested, “if simply belonging to a minority makes one’s desires abnormal, does that mean aboriginals and new immigrants should be considered abnormal, too?”

The legislator additionally refuted concerns that legalizing same-sex marriage would further exacerbate Taiwan’s low birthrate and aging population issues. Pulling out a bar chart to demonstrate, Tuan pointed out that the 20-or-so countries that have legalized same-sex marriage still have higher birthrates than Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Korea and Singapore.

He added that there is no scientific evidence to support claims about same-sex marriage lowering birthrates. In fact, the legislator noted, birthrates in France and Belgium have increased by 30 percent since 2000—which is around the time both countries enacted civil partnership laws conferring equal rights to same-sex couples.