Thailand legalizes same-sex marriage

As Thailand’s long-awaited marriage law goes into effect on Thursday, police officer Pisit “Kew” Sirihirunchai hopes to be first in line to marry his long-term partner Chanatip “Jane” Sirihirunchai.

180 same-sex couples are registering their unions at one of Bangkok’s biggest malls, in an event city officials helped organize to celebrate the legal milestone.

“We’ve been good for a long time,” Pisit said. “We are waiting for the law to arrest us and support us.”

The two men have been together for seven years. Eager to make their relationship official, they have already gone to a Buddhist monastery to give them a beautiful new surname to share – Sirihirunchai. They also asked the local officials to issue a letter of intent signed by both of them, committing themselves to marry.

But they said recognition of their union under Thai law is what they really wanted. It means that LGBTQ+ couples now have the same rights as any other couple to betroth and marry, manage their assets, inherit and have children.

They can make decisions about medical treatment if their spouse is ill and unable to work, or extend financial benefits – such as Pisit’s government pension – to their spouses.

“We want to build a future together – build a house, start a small business together, maybe a cafe,” he adds, listing everything the law has done. “We want to build our future together and take care of each other.”

Prisit says that he is fully supported by his colleagues at the police station, and he hopes that he can encourage others who work in government positions to open up about their sexuality: “They should feel brave because they see us coming out with nothing but good results. answers.”

As a young couple, Prisit and Chanatip – both in their mid-30s – faced fewer obstacles than those who came out early.

But for their community, it’s been a long journey. Despite Thailand’s popular tolerance for LGBTQ+ people, activists say it took a sustained campaign to gain official recognition.

“We have been waiting for this day for 18 years – the day when everyone can see us in the open, when we no longer have to run or hide,” said Rungtiwa Thangkanopast, 59, who will marry her partner of 18 years. in May.

She had been in a marriage, arranged by her family, to a gay man, who later died. She had a daughter, through IVF, but after her husband’s death she started spending time, and later helped run, one of the first women’s bars in Bangkok. Then he met Phanlavee, who is 45 years old and only goes by her first name.

On Valentine’s Day 2013 the two women went to the Bang Rak district office in central Bangkok to get married – a popular place for marriage registration because the name in Thai means “City of Love”.

This was the time when LGBTQ+ couples began to challenge the legal view of marriage as a heterosexual relationship by trying to obtain marriage certificates from county offices.

There were about 400 heterosexual couples waiting with them that day. Rungtiwa and Phanlavee were rejected, and the Thai media mocked their attempt, using a derogatory term for homosexuals.

However, activists managed to persuade the government to consider changing marriage laws. A proposed civil relations bill was put before parliament, giving some recognition to same-sex couples, but not the same legal rights as heterosexuals.

A military coup in 2014 that ousted the elected government disrupted the movement. It would take another decade before full marriage equality was approved by parliament, in part because of the rise of new, progressive political parties that supported the cause.

Their message resonated with Thais – and attitudes had also changed. By this time, same-sex marriage was legal in many Western countries and same-sex love had become common in Thai culture.

Such is the swing in favor of this law that it was passed last year by a whopping 400 votes to only 10 against. Even in the senate, which is famous for its traditionalism, only four opposed the law.

And couples like Rungtiwa and Phanleeva now have their chance to show their love for each other, without the risk of public ridicule.

“With this law, it confirms the legitimacy of our family,” said Rungtiwa, “we are no longer considered strange people just because our daughter is not raised by heterosexual parents.”

The new law removes gender-specific terms such as man, woman, husband and wife from the 70 sections of the Thai Civil Code that cover marriage, and replaces them with neutral terms such as person and spouse.

However, there are still many laws in the Thai legal code that have not been made gender neutral, and there are still obstacles in the way of same-sex couples using surrogacy to have a family.

Parents are still defined under Thai law as mother and father. The law also does not allow people to use their preferred gender in official documents; they are still stuck in their birth gender. These are areas where activists say they still need to continue pushing for change.

But it’s a historic moment in Thailand, which is a prominent place in Asia in recognizing marriage equality. And it’s especially important for older couples, who have had to break up with a change in attitude.

“I really hope that people will throw away the old, stereotypical ideas that gay men can’t have true love,” says Chakkrit “Ink” Vadhanavira.

She and her partner Prinn, both 40 years old, have been together for 24 years.

“We’ve both shown that we truly love each other through thick and thin for over 20 years,” Chakkrit said.

Although Chakkrit’s parents quickly accepted their partnership, it took seven years for Prinn’s parents to do so.

The couple wanted to share the manufacturing business they did together, and other assets, as a couple, so they asked Prinn’s parents to legally adopt Chakkrit, giving him the same family name. Prinn says the new law has brought legal clarity to them.

“For example, right now when people of the same sex buy something together – a big thing – they can’t share your identity,” said Prinn. “And one of us dies, what we both have achieved cannot be transferred to the other. This is why equality in marriage is so important.”

Prinn says that today both sets of parents treat them as they would any other married children.

And when they have relationship problems like any other couple, their parents help them.

“My dad even started reading gay magazines to understand me better. It was really nice to see that.”

Additional reporting by Thanyarat Doksone and Ryn Jirenuwat in Bangkok