The Thai Cabinet has agreed to forward the marriage equality bill to the House of Representatives, according to the PM. Srettha Thavisin has been a strong backer of the bill, along with the Move Forward opposition party.
The PM says he expects the bill to be heard in Parliament on Thursday. The bill offers Thailand’s LGBTQ+ community the same legal marital rights as those afforded to the heterosexual community.
News of the bill’s progress was also welcomed by Move Forward MP Tunyawaj Kamolwongwat, who says Thailand’s LGBTQ+ community have been denied legal rights and protections for too long.
Tunyawaj says passing the bill would mean legal equality in a way that the previous civil partnership bill couldn’t guarantee.
According to the Bangkok Post, Tunyawaj says Parliament will look at two versions of the bill: one from civil society groups and a second from the Move Forward Party.
Tunyawaj says both bills recognise marriage between two people, regardless of their gender, but the details may differ. Tunyawaj says these details can be agreed during the review process.
With Thailand planning to host the World Pride Festival, Tunyawaj says legalising same-sex marriage would be a good start.
Last year, four bills for marriage equality and civil unions for same-sex couples were debated in parliament but when the House was dissolved as a result of the general election, their progress stopped there and they have since lapsed.
Move Forward has already rejected the civil partnership bill proposed by the last administration. The party says that while that bill would recognise same-sex marriage, it offered fewer rights and benefits to those couples than those included in the current marriage equality bill.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
