(Bangkok) Thailand on Tuesday became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, with a historic vote in the Senate celebrated as a “victory” by the LGBT community.
The upper house of Parliament approved by 130 votes in favor (four against, 18 abstentions) this text which will be presented to King Maha Vajiralongkorn for promulgation and which will come into force 120 days after its official publication.
Since the Netherlands, the first country to celebrate same-sex unions in 2001, more than thirty states have legalized marriage for all around the world. In Asia, only Taiwan and Nepal had previously taken the plunge.
“Today, love won over prejudice,” responded activist Plaifah Kyoka Shodladd, who took part in the work of drafting the law.
Before the vote, Tunyawaj Kamolwongwat, an MP from the pro-democracy Move Forward party, hailed “a victory for the people”, which brings back “smiles”, in a period of political turbulence.
The text, voted on in March by a large majority by deputies, modifies the references to “men”, “women”, “husbands” or “wives” to replace them with non-gendered terms, in this case “individuals” and “marriage partners.” It also grants homosexual couples the same rights as heterosexual couples in matters of adoption or inheritance.
However, transgender or non-binary people will still not be able to change their gender on their identity documents.
“My partner has a son and I want the right to be able to adopt him and have a say in his upbringing. This law will allow it,” rejoiced Kevin Pehthai Thanomkhet, 30, to AFP.
Marriage for all sparks a rare consensus in the Thai kingdom, divided between the conservative bloc favorable to the army and the king and the progressive opposition supported by the younger generations.
The LGBT community enjoys wide visibility in Thailand, known for its tolerance and which attracts gay tourists from conservative neighboring countries.
After the vote, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, a supporter of the LGBTQ community, opened her official residence for a party. “We have fought for a long time, because we believe in equal rights for all,” he reacted on his X account. “Today is our day. We celebrate the variety of love, not the difference. Love is beautiful, powerful.”
In central Bangkok, many gay activists showed their joy by attending a “drag queen” show. The ground of the cultural and artistic center of the capital was covered for the occasion with a giant rainbow flag.
“As a Thai, I’m super proud,” said Korakoch Jeumsanga, 23. “The law will benefit straight people and gay people. I got chills when it was voted on.”
Miles Enriquez-Morales, a Californian tourist interviewed in the crowd, said he hoped Thailand would follow suit.
“It wouldn’t happen in China,” commented Joe Yang, 32, a Chinese from Guangzhou, very happy for the Thais and who thought that same-sex marriage had long been permitted in Thailand, given the climate of tolerance.
“We do this for everyone. If society grants rights to everyone, then it is a society where we can live,” Adisorn Juntrasook, who took part in the work of drafting the law as an expert, explained before the vote.
The coming to power last summer of Srettha Thavisin, the first civilian to serve as prime minister since the 2014 coup, accelerated Thailand’s usually tortuous legislative process. The chronic instability of Thai political life, between coups d’état and large popular protest movements, had overcome previous attempts at legalization in recent years.
Thailand is going through a period of uncertainty, due to proceedings at the Constitutional Court targeting Srettha Thavisin and Move Forward, the two main political advocates of equal marriage.
Move Forward risks dissolution, and its leaders a ban from political life for several years, for having promised to revise the law on the crime of lèse-majesté during the campaign for the 2023 legislative elections. A sanction which, if it were to materialize, would mark a setback in democracy, human rights groups fear.
