Thailand passes same-sex marriage law:it will be the first country in Southeast Asia

The bill was approved on final reading.Now all that is missing is the king's signature which represents a pro forma.Same rights also for adoptions and inheritance

There Thailand will be the first Southeast Asian country to legalize marriage for the community lgbtqia+.Only the king's signature is missing.And the provision will be law.In fact, on June 18, the Thai Senate approved the final reading of the law on the egalitarian marriage, thus scoring a historical moment on the front of rights:activists and politicians have been fighting for what has been called a "monumental step forward" for over two decades.Until now, no country in Southeast Asia had adopted similar legislation and Thailand will thus become the third state in all of Asia, after Nepal and Taiwan, to recognize marriage between people of the same person.

The bill gained the support of almost all lawmakers in the Upper House:130 votes in favor out of 152, four against and 18 abstentions.Now the text will be sent to the king Maha Vajiralongkorn for the final signature, which represents a simple formality.The law will come into force 120 days after its publication in the Official Journal.

What does the new law on LGBTQIA+ marriages provide?

The new legislation replaces the words “men”, “women”, “husbands” and “wives” with neutral terms, such as “spouse” and “person”.Rainbow couples will not only have access to marriage, but also the same rights on the marriage front adoptions, of the permits tohealth care and toinheritance.

These new rights will also be extended to people transgender, who however at a legislative level will continue to be identified on the basis of the sex assigned to them at birth.In fact, the country still does not recognize sex change on documents for transgender or non-binary people.

“This historic law opens a new era for Thailand – declared a LifeGate Hua Boonyapisomparn, member of the committee that presented and discussed the bill in the Senate, as well as vice president of the Foundation of transgender alliance for human rights (ThaiTGA) -.For decades the country has been recognized for its tolerance towards LGBTQIA+ people, but the locals perceived it differently, at least until today:now, thanks to this law on equal marriage, the wind has finally changed towards greater equality.The first door to human rights for LGBTQ+ people has just opened, and we shouldn't have to wait another two decades to push for more legislation, such as gender recognition for trans, non-binary and intersex people.We therefore stand by and continue to support the LGBTQIA+ communities."

Thailand is a tolerant country

Thailand is notoriously one of the most tolerant towards the LGBTQIA+ community.This does not mean that there are no forms of discrimination and exploitation of prostitution, unfortunately including minors, but on a general level the country is still among the most liberals And welcoming throughout Southeast Asia.

According to a survey conducted in 2022 by the National Institute for Administration Development (Nida Poll), more than 90 percent of Thais accept the presence of people belonging to the so-called “third gender” in one's circle of friends, at work and within one's family unit.A tolerance largely based on the Buddhist culture of the society that promotes the respect, the compassion and theacceptance of diversity.

Not surprisingly, it is estimated that there is one in Thailand the highest percentage of transgender people in the world, which would be around 500-600 thousand people.

The celebrations

After the approval of the bill, it's time for celebrations in Bangkok:in fact, an event with a show will be held in the heart of the capital drag queen, and the prime minister Srettha Thavisin announced that he would open his residence to activists and supporters for celebrations after the vote.

Several shops and shopping centers have already displayed rainbow flags for a few weeks on the occasion of the Pride month, the month of pride lgbtqia+ which is celebrated every year in June.And the country is preparing to host the World pride 2030, which will give a further boost to the tourism sector, driven in part by many visitors from the Rainbow community.