The Debate | Opinion
Latest legislative developments have raised hopes, however the Thai authorities might nonetheless sink the LGBTQ dream of equal rights.
Professional-democracy actions show a LGBTQ flag throughout a protest at Democracy Monument in Bangkok, Thailand, August 16, 2020.
Credit score: AP Photograph/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File
In June, Thailand welcomed its first Satisfaction Parade in nearly 16 years. The celebratory occasion within the capital Bangkok not solely introduced collectively hundreds of members from the nation’s extremely seen LGBTQ neighborhood but additionally underscored a host of points: from the rights of intercourse staff to authorized gender recognition to marriage equality.
As one in all solely 9 Asian signatories to a 2011 declaration of LGBTQ rights on the United Nations Human Rights Council, Thailand has typically been hailed as a haven for lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, and questioning people. But, the nation nonetheless lacks mechanisms for safeguarding LGBTQ rights. For too lengthy, human rights violations towards LGBTQ individuals have endured whereas the voices of LGBTQ activists have fallen on deaf ears. Regardless of Thailand’s fame for inclusion, social stigma and discrimination towards gender and sexual minorities nonetheless prevail within the conservative nation.
However there’s hope. When nationwide youth-led protests calling for political reforms erupted in 2020, LGBTQ calls for have been added to the agenda, alongside the broader requires democratic change. And now, with the return of the Satisfaction Parade in Bangkok spurring comparable occasions in different Thai cities, and rainbow flags flying excessive, LGBTQ points are lastly on the desk in Thailand.
Just a few days after Bangkok’s historic Satisfaction Parade, Thai lawmakers handed at their first studying 4 totally different payments on same-sex unions. Three of the draft payments would confer a differing and questionable authorized standing on civil unions between individuals throughout all genders. The opposition Transfer Ahead Social gathering proposed the fourth and strongest of the batch: the draft Act for Modification to the Civil and Industrial Code, higher often known as the marriage equality invoice. It seeks to revise binary phrases within the Code to offer the basic proper to marriage and household for everybody, no matter their sexual orientation or gender id.
Whereas 4 draft payments on the identical physique of rights would appear to be an inconceivable win for the queer neighborhood, competing efforts by politicians vying to leap on the rainbow bandwagon could not really pave the way in which for marriage equality in Thailand.
As a substitute of resolving the binary nature of Thailand’s current marriage legislation, the three civil partnership payments complicate the problem by defining non-heterosexual {couples} as “civil companions” – a authorized definition that was beforehand nonexistent in Thai legislation. This could entail arduous steps to make sure that all related legislations are amended to replicate this new definition. Extra worryingly, the civil partnership payments depend on laws being enforced mutatis mutandis – with the required adjustments having been made – giving room for misinterpretation that might serve to perpetuate inequality.
Not solely does the working definition institutionalize the othering of gender and sexuality minorities, but additionally it wrongly indicators to the Thai public that LGBTQ {couples} are totally different. Rubbing salt within the wound, the three payments place LGBTQ companions off-limits for some types of state welfare which might be offered to heterosexual {couples}, making the drafts discriminatory from the outset. Within the eyes of Thai legislation, LGBTQ {couples} are already much less entitled to their primary human rights than their heterosexual counterparts.
The Rainbow Coalition for Marriage Equality, a community of over 40 civil society organizations and activist teams, stays crucial of the civil partnership payments, stating their disregard for equality and human dignity. Different rights teams, like the Manushya Basis, spotlight how the civil partnership invoice quantities to a type of second-class citizenship.
All 4 payments are at present being scrutinized by a parliamentary subcommittee tasked with deciding whether or not to ship any of the drafts, or a consolidated draft, for approval from different ranges of presidency earlier than voting it into legislation. Whereas Thailand edges nearer to the same-sex marriage dream, this isn’t the time to relaxation on our laurels. A alternative between backing civil partnership or full same-sex marriage equality stays on the agenda, and all eyes needs to be on what occurs subsequent.
We must always all know that the government-backed civil partnership payments won’t present equal rights to LGBTQ {couples}. If handed in one in all their present types, Thailand’s gender equality dream will falter. The legal guidelines may additionally face fierce authorized challenges from LGBTQ activists for being unconstitutional, to not point out being misaligned with Thailand’s obligations underneath worldwide legislation.
As Satisfaction Month celebrations wind down, it’s excessive time that Thai policymakers get right down to some severe work and notice that it’s not sufficient for them to wave rainbow flags on Bangkok streets. They have to additionally stroll the discuss and make true marriage equality a actuality in Thailand.
