Several thousand protesters, many from conservative christian groups, assembled on a main road outside Taiwan’s legislative Yuan on Thursday to protest the passage of same-sex marriage legislation currently under debate.

Protesters dressed in white chanted slogans and seeking to pressure legislators to delay, or cancel altogether, the passage of amendments to the civil code that would permit homosexual unions.

Some held placards with the slogans including “Stand forward for the next generation’s happiness.”

Demonstrators shook their hands in the air and gave the thumbs-down as they watched a live stream of the committee meeting on a big screen, according to AFP.

David Tseng, spokesman of the rally’s organiser, The Happiness of the Next Generation Alliance, said that while the group supported equal rights for same-sex partners in certain areas, marriage should only be between a man and a woman.

“Now they want to amend the law to do away with the ‘father’ and ‘mother’ altogether,” he told AFP.

“We are different from the West. In Eastern culture, we place great importance on filial piety to one’s father and mother. This is a virtue we must keep,” he said.

The country's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, opposition party Kuomintang, and Taiwan's third largest party the New Power Party have all proposed amendments to the country’s Civil Code.

At the moment, 67 legislators, or 59.3% of the Legislative Yuan’s 113 seats, support legalisation. Recently, 200 judges also signed a petition stating that marriage equality would benefit the nation.