Thailand’s lower house passed a same-sex marriage bill on Wednesday, as the country moves to become the first Southeast Asian country to recognize LGBTQ marriage, a major legal shift hailed as a “fantastic first step” toward full gender equality.
The measure passed easily — 399 to 10 in the House of Representatives — with some waving rainbow flags during the landmark vote. To become law, it must now be approved by the Senate, the unelected house of Lords, and then receive royal assent.
Once the law is passed, Thailand will be the only country in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage after Nepal and Taiwan.
Gay rights advocates say the progress after years of false starts shows how Thailand’s cultural space is changing and positions the country as a legitimate refuge in Asia, where gay rights have struggled in many Muslim-majority and Communist-led countries. Almost non-existent.
“The impact has been huge. My friends say they feel like they’ve escaped the shackles of second-class citizenship,” Paron Mead, a 39-year-old Thai-British LGBTQ artist, told VOA.
“As we explore the legal and cultural ramifications of this marriage bill, we think of the large number of queer people in Asia who have set their sights on Thailand. This will undoubtedly help millions of queer people in Thailand and beyond safer.”
Srettha Thavisin’s government has prioritized the marriage equality bill because of its potential to deliver a “soft power” win for Thailand, including a possible boost to LGBTQ tourism.
But the bill is also a welcome progressive victory for his administration, which has been criticized for aligning with conservative hardliners who blocked many other structural changes in their bid to seize power after last year’s election.
Thailand has long been known as a safe place for LGBTQ people to visit and live, although the law has failed to keep pace with changing society’s attitudes about gender.
The law was specifically revised in the Civil and Commercial Code, a piece of legislation that has proven difficult to rewrite.
“We are making the impossible possible,” said Nada Chaiyajit, a trans woman law lecturer and adviser to the committee tasked with amending the Marriage Equality Act.
“So far we have laid the foundations for society by fighting for the rights of same-sex couples, including removing all discriminatory provisions against women in existing laws and adding provisions to protect individuals.”
While the bill has practical outcomes such as inheritance rights, tax breaks and medical powers of attorney for married LGBTQ couples, it says same-sex couples who adopt a child under the law cannot be called “parents” and must still use the gender-specific term “father.” “. ” and “Mom.”
“Passing this law is a great first step,” said Aitarnik Chitwiset, an adviser to the group drafting the same-sex marriage bill. “But this is only the first step.”
Recognizing the ongoing unease among some conservative elements in Thai society, including among the country’s Muslim population, a spokesman for the Pheu Thai party, which leads the ruling coalition, assured heterosexual couples that their legal rights would not be “stripped away”.
Instead, it aims to address long-standing injustices against LGBTQ Thais, Danuporn Punnakan, chairman of the Pheu Thai party’s same-sex marriage committee, told parliament.
“I invite everyone [members of parliament] Let’s create a new chapter in Thailand’s history together. “
After years of rejection by a government dominated by conservative elders, LGBTQ advocates say the change in the law would mark a new dawn for equality.
“We owe it to cultural leaders … who are fighting for this reality,” Meade added.
“Enabling anyone to love with all their heart is one of the simplest things we can do to shape a more peaceful world.”
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