Thailand legalizes same-sex marriage in historic move

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

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

“We have been prepared for a long time,” says Pisit. “We’ve just been waiting for the law to catch up with us and support us.”

The two men have been together for seven years. Eager to formalize their relationship, they already turned to a Buddhist monk to give them a new, auspicious surname they could share: Sirihirunchai. They also asked local officials to issue a letter of intent, which they both signed, committing to marry.

But they say what they really dreamed of was for their union to be recognized under Thai law. It means that LGBTQ+ couples now have the same rights as any other couple to get engaged and married, manage their assets, inherit and adopt children.

They can make decisions about medical treatment if their partner becomes ill and incapacitated, or extend financial benefits (such as the Pisit government pension) to their spouse.

“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 allowed. “We want to build our future together and take care of each other.”

Prisit says she has the full support of her colleagues at the police station and hopes to encourage others working in government service to be open about their sexuality: “They should feel emboldened because they can see that we came out with no repercussions, only positive ones.” answers.”

As a younger couple, Prisit and Chanatip, both in their 30s, have experienced fewer obstacles than those who came out much earlier.

But for his community it has been a long journey. Despite Thailand’s famous tolerance towards LGBTQ+ people, activists say it took a sustained campaign to gain legal recognition.

“We have been waiting for 18 years for this day, the day when everyone can openly recognize us, when we no longer have to be evasive or hide,” says Rungtiwa Thangkanopast, 59, who is marrying her partner of 18 years. In May.

She had been married, arranged by her family, to a gay man, who later died. She had a daughter, through IVF, but after her husband’s death she began spending time in, and later helping run, one of the first lesbian pubs in Bangkok. Then he met Phanlavee, who is now 45 and uses only his first name.

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

This was the time when LGBTQ+ couples began to challenge the official view of marriage as an exclusively heterosexual couple by attempting to obtain marriage certificates from district offices.

That day about 400 heterosexual couples were waiting for them. Rungtiwa and Phanlavee were rejected and the Thai media mocked their efforts, using derogatory slang for lesbians.

Still, activists managed to persuade the government to consider changing marriage laws. A civil union bill has been introduced in parliament offering some official recognition to same-sex couples, but not the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.

A military coup in 2014 that deposed the elected government disrupted the movement. It would be another decade before parliament approved marriage equality, in part due to the rise of young, progressive political parties that championed the cause.

His message resonated with Thais and attitudes had changed too. At the time, same-sex marriage was legalized in many Western countries and same-sex love had also become normalized in Thai culture.

The turn in favor of the law was such that it was approved last year by an overwhelming majority of 400 votes to only 10 against. Even in the notoriously conservative Senate, only four opposed the law.

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

“With this law comes the legitimacy of our family,” says Rungtiwa, “we are no longer considered weird just because our daughter is not being raised by heterosexual parents.”

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

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

Under Thai law, parents are still defined as mother and father. The law also still does not allow people to use their preferred gender on official documents; they are still stuck in their birth gender. These are areas where activists say they will still have to keep pushing for change.

However, it is a historic moment for Thailand, which is an outlier in Asia in recognizing marriage equality. And it’s especially meaningful for older couples, who have had to endure changes in attitudes.

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

He and his partner Prinn, both in their 40s, have been together for 24 years.

“We have both shown that we genuinely love each other through thick and thin for over 20 years,” says Chakkrit. “We’ve been ready to take care of each other since our first day together. We’re no different from heterosexual couples.”

While Chakkrit’s parents quickly accepted their partnership, it took Prinn’s parents seven years before they were able to do so.

The couple also wanted to share the production business they ran together and other assets as a couple, so they asked Prinn’s parents to officially adopt Chakkrit, giving him the same last name. Prinn says the new law has brought them welcome legal clarity.

“For example, right now, when a same-sex couple buys something together – a large item – they cannot share ownership of it,” Prinn said. “If one of us dies, what we have both gained together cannot be passed on to the other. That is why marriage equality is very important.”

Today, Prinn says, both parents treat them as they would any other married child.

And when they had relationship problems like any other couple, their parents helped 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