20/04/2024
US based LGBTQIA web magazine Them.com reports that the lower house of Parliament in the Kingdom of Thailand has voted by a landslide majority in favour of allowing samesex marriages, in a major development for the LGBTQIA+ communities in South East Asia. The House of Representatives passed the legislative reform by four hundred votes to just ten against. The BBC News Channel adds that the bill for change now heads to the national Senate, which must vote on the bill or request further amendments within 60 days, as is stipulated by Thailand’s constitution. Should the Senate approve the bill — as its members are expected to — it will then be sent to King Maha Vajiralongkorn for his signature. “Same-sex marriage will open doors for other laws that support LGBTQ+ people,” activist Nachale Boonyapisomparn told Them in February. “Maybe in the next five months, we will propose legal gender recognition to Parliament, so I am getting to learn the process a little bit.” Advocacy groups representing LGBTQ+ people did however, note that the law which has been approved does not include any changes that would protect couples with children. The legislative code continues to refer to "mother" and "father" for the time being, but many people are hopeful that further reform in including gender neutral language will occur in the future.
