Government could still sink the LGBTQ dream of equal rights

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From The Diplomat

In June, Thailand welcomed its first Pride Parade in almost 16 years. The celebratory event in the capital Bangkok not only brought together thousands of members from the country’s highly visible LGBTQ community but also underscored a host of issues: from the rights of sex workers to legal gender recognition to marriage equality.

As one of only nine Asian signatories to a 2011 declaration of LGBTQ rights at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Thailand has often been hailed as a haven for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning individuals. Yet, the country still lacks mechanisms for safeguarding LGBTQ rights. For too long, human rights violations against LGBTQ people have persisted while the voices of LGBTQ activists have fallen on deaf ears. Despite Thailand’s reputation for inclusion, social stigma and discrimination against gender and sexual minorities still prevail in the conservative country.

But there’s hope. When nationwide youth-led protests calling for political reforms erupted in 2020, LGBTQ demands were added to the agenda, alongside the broader calls for democratic change. And now, with the return of the Pride Parade in Bangkok spurring similar events in other Thai cities, and rainbow flags flying high, LGBTQ issues are finally on the table in Thailand.

A few days after Bangkok’s historic Pride Parade, Thai lawmakers passed at their first reading four different bills on same-sex unions. Three of the draft bills would confer a differing and questionable legal status on civil unions between people across all genders. The opposition Move Forward Party proposed the fourth and strongest of the batch: the draft Act for Amendment to the Civil and Commercial Code, better known as the marriage equality bill. It seeks to revise binary terms in the Code to provide the fundamental right to marriage and family for everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Continues at

https://thediplomat.com/2022/09/can-marriage-equality-become-a-reality-in-thailand/