【By  Katie Hunt and Karina Tsui】

Taiwan's top court has cleared the way for the island to become the first place in Asia to grant same-sex couples the right to marry.

The Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday that current laws, which say that marriage is between a man and a woman, violate the Constitution.

The panel of judges has given the island's parliament, known as the Legislative Yuan, two years to amend or enact new laws, which could potentially make Taiwan the first place in Asia to allow same-sex marriage.

The island has a large gay community and its annual gay pride parade is the biggest in Asia but the issue of marriage equality has divided Taiwanese society, with thousands turning out in recent months to protest for and against marriage equality.

"This explanation is a step forward in the history of Taiwan's same-sex marriage," said Yu Mei-nu, a Taiwanese legislator.

Yu said the court's explanation means that even if lawmakers do not pass legislation allowing same-sex marriage in the next two years, gay couples will still be able to marry by this time in 2019.

"I hope that the legislators will have the moral courage to pass same-sex marriage into law, however it is hard to predict how long it will take, at this moment," she said. "The opposition toward gay marriage in Taiwan won't just gladly accept it and give up the debate, so the debate will continue."

Draft legislation is already making its way through Taiwan's Parliament but it has stalled.

"We feel that this is a huge success for the LGBT and marriage equality movement in Taiwan," said Wayne Lin, an activist who runs an LGBT hotline on the island.

"We want to amend the Civil Code so same-sex couples can get married... our target is to complete this whole process within this year."

Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan's first female president, expressed support for gay marriage before her election in 2016.

"In the face of love, everyone is equal," she said in a Facebook video during 2015's gay pride parade.

"I support marriage equality. Every person should be able to look for love freely, and freely seek their own happiness."

[CNN, 2014-05-25]