Thailand paves the way for same-sex marriage
A homosexual couple wearing wedding dresses in the procession of the Pride March, organized in Bangkok on June 5, 2022. © AFP - LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The Thai Parliament gave its first reading agreement to same-sex marriage on Wednesday June 15, an important step for the LGBTQ + community, very visible but still the victim of strong discrimination in the conservative kingdom.
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Thailand's lower house of parliament on Wednesday approved consideration of several bills: two allow same-sex marriage and two others allow only simple civil unions.
A parliamentary committee will examine them in detail, then the deputies, after a long legislative process, will decide between the two options.
Thailand
could thus become the
first country in Southeast Asia to recognize same-sex marriage.
A small group of enthusiastic activists hailed this milestone
for the LQBTQ+ community
by gathering outside parliament with rainbow flags.
“
I am very happy and delighted (…) that MPs are finally voting for equality
,” LGBTQ+ activist Nada Chaiyajit told AFP.
“
But there is still a long way to go
.”
The kingdom, with a Buddhist majority, remains very conservative.
Hope, but “
still a lot of work to do
”
Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the opposition party Move Forward which proposed one of the bills on marriage for all, considered that the vote of the Parliament brought hope.
“
Today shows that politics is possible here in Thailand
,” he told activists outside parliament.
"
No matter who you are, there is a place for you in this country
."
In early June, Thailand celebrated its first LGBTQ+ pride march in nearly 16 years, with thousands of activists taking to the streets of the capital to demand the adoption of same-sex marriage, among other things.
But “
on the ground, there is still a lot of work to do to change mentalities and convince parliamentarians”,
reacted Ryan Figueiredo, representative in Thailand of the Equal Asia foundation (Equality Asia), which defends the rights of sexual minorities. .
He worries that parliamentarians may end up approving only civil unions, which do not confer the same rights as same-sex marriage.
“
It would only be a meager consolation prize that would amount to making the LGBTQ+ community a completely separate class
,” he warned.
►Also read:
United States: in Los Angeles, a pride march between fear and unity
(With AFP)
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