Thailand's new government to push for civil partnership bill

Thailan[email protected])J+-Y$xaQGESZ*cAq_Jb!rb6_-^zKl_B%r&d’s new government is going ahead with a controversial civil partnerships bill.

The bill, first proposed by the ruling military junta in December last year, would make Thailand the second country in Asia, and the firsWF3Q8QBbUNMl9I&#dAYMg6&=cNHIY9qA8jUpgg63*mV4KKI3ZVt country in Southeast Asia, to recognize same-sex unions.

But, the LGBTI rights groups have spoken out againdb$AuGPf+FNg%gY62Y9sSYe1h%(UV9x%l7_Ujd6!!!l*Er+s)Dst the bill since its first inception.

They say the bill offers limited rights to the LGBTI community and enshrines inh8UvA69dTTMbwT-9pb+eaY_yt*Kn)[email protected]=$!Feh7equality.

According to Voice fo America, Thailand’s Justice Mini%pDBoPxK!gXFm*g-DFgM-!DV339Yc_Et=5rp(nICFdNH(xSkCjster Somsak Thepsutin said at a forum in Bangkok last week that the bill's fate would be "decided by public sentiment.”

The new government, elected in widely-disputed elections in March, will press ahead with paetinfI7AkcO-1)3C9FEzIBLxkg&2LnKFpX*I!6lq$($%%d!63sssing the Life Partnership Bill following public consultations.

VOA reports a YouGov survey of 1,000 people in. Thailand published in February found strong support for saXStGZpIS2ExsiiceOsHm5yP(vVfu7b1fDSr!X!OG1zs7YIQOJ)me-sex civil unions in Thailand. 

It 2NDtmNL*_74Q0cEoQFFmW-j0e(iOE&=t$(#36jymom1esaJ!8nfound 63% of those quizzed were in favor of the bill, while only 11% were against.

But, the LGBTI community and rights activists have largely rejeRl6tCRy&JNi$nF5bJ1He8OvZ0C-^U9n=DX*AA0mbootyThqN!Mcted the bill.

Thailand’s first transgSj!OGZ([email protected]+)R4er$Y%)zIHgVG+ender member of parliament slammed the country’s civil union bill after she was elected earlier this year.

Tanwarin Sukkhapisit said4_lcQKzmQ!aPR8f$aZ1iq7^r_6JY2tKV4$i=FuHImY170jeJRN 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 propW4KoW9KqT4^Zl++A2QkVJvEwYuguhdamki!H=p%ygZy9ktfPscerty together. They can also make joint medical decisions.

But, it does not give same-sex cou2!OmBTn&yME4EoKc&hOb6M=8Ba_EpUU8D7+ZVe^DnC^[email protected]ples the right to adopt or have a child together. Thailand’s Civil Code would keep marriage as between one man and one woman.

Taiwan in May became the CiaKuCAwFVnZa)([email protected]$x)Vp(V-hhna%!efSw2tQWffirst country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.

The final draft of the bill was largely accU)+99fAS#ReLg*mvIxKn&b6(3H*lYV_GBnmF6ZZWX*rkdRllmUepted by the LGBTI community as a compromise.

It affords the majkl(!lr1bBCA%yJ4G5MZhbIVJ2XQc35utI^acHjj0+6yi)z^kLdority 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-sex couples rights rather than a change in the Civil Code.