News / Aug. 24, 2019
Thailand’s new government is going ahead with a controversial ccc16)ur3M46TVFgZiF-VQ!)qpL@^)9d=_2tK2%W8JsZ8FE+C&Rivil partnerships bill.
The bill, first p-s72aS&)DGH4UW=D9+EfZpSF^e0CtMvY!N2GA_t(BR6g+6ll*3roposed by the ruling military junta in December last year, would make Thailand the second country in Asia, and the first country in Southeast Asia, to recognize same-sex unions.
But, the LGBTI rights W-Lhsf@)_o47OJJ4nQd0Px$GJ20pqhGt!)oSE6sAh^I0fF_$5ngroups have spoken out against the bill since its first inception.
They say the bill offers limited rights to the LGBTI communokElo@+h7)zy41AtyK)!r6LrYgUfcCBqxr(0dO@G(hW!Qbj*vPity and enshrines inequality.
According to Voice fo America, Thailand’s Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin said at a forum in Bangkok lMNXD)&_kpUd0igQ##weZJftR26VbutHmZ2e#Q04=tLhGVJ8hY@ast week that the bill's fate would be "decided by public sentiment.”
The new goverPG#*W3TY()PA7(da_7)*5rXv6J*9k88v0jsKHH@rDAQ63dUI-Znment, elected in widely-disputed elections in March, will press ahead with passing the Life Partnership Bill following public consultations.
VOA reports a YouGov survey of 1,000 people in. Thailand published in February found strong sup&+2RAH8zTmoUA1kOuin)x3mH(6U1Am2s$sN*lqC)*lMh5UU^Q0port for same-sex civil unions in Thailand.
It found 63% of those qucSK!5)H8Xt_dzc^1ZeWi1pLau#^AY!Pvq!du1uTF=*+dzrHpowizzed were in favor of the bill, while only 11% were against.
But, the LGBTI community and rights activists have largely rejeRSa*+NYoDsTbQVP@kD*7h*9dv$oPwceCbhQlX&3vtTWn&FwRw=cted the bill.
Thailand’s first transgender memWeVxRD%e%_G&7gal*AkyXIq&Rmnf&zqKDk2D@V$R@liYG0i6ktber of parliament slammed the country’s civil union bill after she was elected earlier this year.
TZknAv&LSAPvJ0JAav+lnKnoNap2+fAXp!wcAH((HfJMu--#jamanwarin Sukkhapisit said the bill "misses the target”.
"[Equality] is one thing that [this law] will definitely not achieve. The civil union bill actually serves to widen the rift rather than bridge it because it contradicts the basic premise that we’re all equal” she told the Isaan Record.
The law would give same-sex couples the right to register, own and inherit provh1gP6PqZgnlKzMiOU9x-j3HtNeDs)7Xp#l)fLqo7MIx8EL%oPperty together. They can also make joint medical decisions.
But, it does not give same-sex couples the right to adopt or have a child together. Thailand’s Civil CodO*^TfhE526+&4&PeRUmQPOBTcbDoobU1y#bGnBv0K^CC4ty=24e would keep marriage as between one man and one woman.
Taiwan in May became the first countr$R@7h7-p^x7V2(yzuYKzI=dgQZcf5vP20$Bs&h45)WXzrCIDJ%y in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
The final draft of the bill was largely accepted by the LGBTI commueo@OJW=@VJzdCXZbAO9pId+k+Hq@0myiWEsh8t##ox4Iar*U9Nnity as a compromise.
It affords the majority of rights available to opposite-sex couples. In a referendum in November last year, about 70% of voters said they preferred a separate law to give same-se^LE0lokNZpK&Z0pG3!5(deuo$eta#F#z6Fi8=Sx8C1j&q^7TRGx couples rights rather than a change in the Civil Code.
