- Oct 17, 2011
- 42,809
- 45,917
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Atheist
- Marital Status
- Legal Union (Other)
Thailand’s Senate voted Tuesday to pass a marriage-equality bill, putting the country on track to become the first in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
The legislation, which passed with 130 senators in favor, four opposed and 18 abstaining, allows any two people, regardless of gender, to get engaged or married. It was approved by the House of Representatives in March and now must be endorsed by King Vajiralongkorn, which is considered a formality. Once it is published in the official journal of the Thai government, the law will go into effect after 120 days.
A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that 60 percent of adults in Thailand supported legalizing same-sex marriage. Thavisin, the prime minister, has emphasized that the Thai government is committed to marriage equality and touted Bangkok’s Pride parade this month.
The legislation that passed Tuesday also swaps out terms such as “husband” and “wife” in Thai marriage law for gender-neutral language, such as “spouse.” One member of the Senate fought against that change. Retired army Gen. Worapong Sa-nganet said cutting those terms would be “a destruction of the family establishment in the most violent way.”
He added that “if there’s no term ‘husband’ or ‘wife’ in the law, it would disappear from the Thai language."
Seems unlikely.
The legislation, which passed with 130 senators in favor, four opposed and 18 abstaining, allows any two people, regardless of gender, to get engaged or married. It was approved by the House of Representatives in March and now must be endorsed by King Vajiralongkorn, which is considered a formality. Once it is published in the official journal of the Thai government, the law will go into effect after 120 days.
A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that 60 percent of adults in Thailand supported legalizing same-sex marriage. Thavisin, the prime minister, has emphasized that the Thai government is committed to marriage equality and touted Bangkok’s Pride parade this month.
The legislation that passed Tuesday also swaps out terms such as “husband” and “wife” in Thai marriage law for gender-neutral language, such as “spouse.” One member of the Senate fought against that change. Retired army Gen. Worapong Sa-nganet said cutting those terms would be “a destruction of the family establishment in the most violent way.”
He added that “if there’s no term ‘husband’ or ‘wife’ in the law, it would disappear from the Thai language."
Seems unlikely.
