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The Thai Parliament approved this Wednesday the marriage equality law, the most important legislative step to convert Thailand in the third country in Asia to legalize unions between LGTBI people.
The new law was approved in third and final reading with 399 votes in favor, 10 against and two abstentions in the Chamber, dominated by the government coalition led by the Pheu Thai party.
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Some of the deputies who spoke at today’s session wore flags and decorations with the colors of the LGTBI rainbow flag and celebrated the approval with applause and hugs.
Among the fundamental changes it includes is the name of marriage from “one man and one woman” to “two people” and the modification of the legal status of “husband and wife” to “couple” without gender, in addition to guaranteeing LGTBI unions the the same rights that heterosexual unions currently enjoy.
“I consider this success to be part of the consensus of Thai society. Work together to create a society of equality and non-discrimination. Mainly gender and family formation, which are basic human rights that the State must guarantee”, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin noted on social media.
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The president, one of Pheu Thai’s candidates for the country’s leadership, promised to promote LGTBI laws during the campaign ahead of the May 2023 elections, although these laws have an unusual consensus among all of the country’s parties.
““Together we move towards a society of equality and respect for diversity”, “Proud” underlined Srettha, who is trying to promote Bangkok’s candidacy to organize the LGTBI World Pride capital in 2028.
In turn, the leader of the progressive movement Avanzar (Forward), Pita Limjaroenrat, one of the parties that has been promoting this change for years, published a rainbow emoticon on the social network X as a sign of support for the Legislative’s approval.
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After today’s approval of this legislation, which began to be debated in Parliament on December 21st, it will still have to go through some formal steps before it becomes law, such as obtaining final support from the Senate and its publication in the official State body. . gazette. after being signed by the King of Thailand.
When it comes into force approximately at the end of the year, Thailand will become the third Asian country to recognize marriage equality, after Taiwan and Nepal, and the first in Southeast Asia, a region where setbacks in LGTBI rights are palpable in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia or Brunei.
Although the country has one of the largest and most visible LGTBI communities in all of Asia, activists believe that Thai conservative laws They do not reflect the changes and attitudes of society in recent decades.
Last year, the Chamber of Deputies had already debated several similar bills, but was unable to approve any proposal before the Legislature was dissolved before the elections, in which the reformist Avanzar won a landslide victory, although he was unable to form a Government.
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In 2019, Taiwan became the pioneering country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage and, since then, more than 10,000 homosexual couples have married there.
Nepal, at the forefront of LGTBI rights in South Asia, recognized the first homosexual union in November 2023, giving legitimacy to the marriage of a man and a trans woman, while in February this year it registered its first marriage between two women.
Japan is another Asian nation that could continue opening up, as in recent years its courts and local authorities have taken a series of measures that grant certain rights to these couples and pave the way for future legalization.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
