Lawmakers passed a legislation to recognise same-sex marriage, making it the first South-East Asian nation to guarantee marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.
The 500-member House of Representatives voted to pass the so-called “marriage equality” Bill, technically an amendment to the Civil and Commercial Code, in a final reading yesterday.
As many as 400 lawmakers backed the legislation, while 10 opposed it and five members either abstained or didn’t vote after a nearly four-hour debate.
The Bill will now need to be approved by the upper-house Senate and endorsed by the King.
Then it will be published in the Royal Gazette and take effect 120 days later. The process is expected to complete well before the end of the year.
When the changes come into force, Thailand will recognise marriage registrations of same-sex partners aged 18 and above, along with their rights to inheritance, tax allowances and child adoption, among others.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s administration has made it a signature issue, and advocates say it would also burnish Thailand’s reputation as an LGBTQ-friendly tourist destination.
The landmark legislation seeks to formally change the composition of a marriage from “a man and a woman” to “two individuals,” and change the official legal status from “husband and wife” to “married couple.”
Thailand will become the third place in Asia to recognise same-sex marriage, after Taiwan and Nepal, and rank among some 40 countries around the world to guarantee equal marital rights.
Recent efforts elsewhere in the region have had mixed results.
Hong Kong has yet to comply with a 2023 court order to establish laws recognising same-sex partnerships, and India’s Supreme Court refused to legalise same-sex marriage, saying it’s an issue for parliament to consider.
Srettha’s government has also promised to work on a Bill to recognise gender identity, and the health ministry has also proposed legalising commercial surrogacy to allow LGBTQ couples to adopt children. — Bloomberg
