The Thai Cabinet has just approved an amendment to the civil code that will allow for same-sex marriage, provided that an additional draft law is approved in December. The change that they have proposed mainly involves a more inclusive language change (i.e. man/woman to individuals or marriage partners).

Source: Global Voices.

This reflects a marked improvement in marriage equality for the Southeast Asian region, despite the country’s status as a place of generally well-regarded tolerance for the LGBTQ+ community. Taiwan and Nepal are the only other Asian countries that have passed similar laws, making Thailand the first Southeast Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage. The implications of this progress go beyond an intra-country law change – the Pheu Thai party’s initiative could set the stage for the rest of the region to follow suit. I believe that this may take the form of increased LGBT advocacy, changes in diplomatic relations with more accepting countries, and increased pressure for the surrounding countries to address the issue. 

Thailand is a unique case, however, as it is the only country in Southeast Asia that was not subjected to colonization by Western society. This is a significant contributor to the country’s relatively lax view on the LGBT community – western views of gender and sexuality played much less of a role than countries like Vietnam and the Philippines. The surrounding countries have moved away from colonization, yet religious influences are still a significant force, so the effects may take longer to take place. I would not be surprised if countries with growing LGBT forces end up following Thailand in their attitudes, such as the Philippines.

This amendment also begs the question – will the status of culture and religion remain the same in Thailand after this display of increased tolerance? Or, is this a reflection of changes already made, so everyday society will not be impacted? I speculate that tensions will be lower in everyday life and couples will be more comfortable with being open, but that it is more of a reaction to the evolution of society that has already occurred.

I look forward to following the case of this new law, and hope to see ripples of the new attitudes towards marriage in the other, more conservative Southeast Asian countries.

 

Article: https://apnews.com/article/thailand-samesex-marriage-lgbtq-f14aa589cb91ce5f8d973f570ebbb065

Image: https://globalvoices.org/2020/11/16/thai-lgbtq-activists-and-pro-democracy-protesters-march-together-for-equality/