Taiwan unveiled a draft of what could be Asia's first same-sex marriage law on Thursday (February 21).

Late last year, a series of referendums on the self-ruled island saw voters oppose amending Taiwan's civil code to allow for same-sex marriage defining the term 'marriage' as being between a man and a woman.

They asked for a special law to be enacted for same-sex unions.

Thursday's draft bill would give same-sex couples similar legal protections in marriage as heterosexual couples while marriage in civil law would remain unchanged.

In response, some activists said having a separate law was discriminatory.

They also said the draft did not give complete legal protections to same-sex couples.

Taiwan's parliament is expected to vote on the draft bill by late May, the end of a two-year deadline set by the constitutional court for legalisation after ruling in 2017 that same-sex couples had the right to legally marry.

The issue has been a challenge for President Tsai Ing-wen whose party suffered a major defeat in last November's elections.

She saw criticism over her reform policies and her approach to marriage equality was among them.

Conservative groups said they would continue to fight the draft bill with some calling it 'unacceptable'.