Photo courtesy of Chainwit. via Wikimedia Commons
The 2024 Pride celebration in Bangkok took place as a same-sex marriage bill awaited approval.
By Anna Goodman ’28
Staff Writer
Content warning: This article briefly mentions homophobia and the death penalty.
Thousands of people took to the streets in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 1, 2024, decked out in colorful makeup, brandishing rainbow flags and cheering their support for pride. But something was different this year. The crowd of activists was waiting with bated breath for an announcement over a quarter-century in the making that could change their lives: same-sex marriage would finally be legalized in their country. It would take four more months, until the end of September, when Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn gave his assent and made it official.
Though it didn’t reach Parliament before early this year, this specific bill has been in the works for at least two years. It has gone through several different committees who all had their own opinions on the precise wording of the bill. What they eventually settled on is groundbreaking: not only allowing same-sex marriage, but changing all language in the civil codes to be completely gender neutral. The law “grants married couples full legal, financial and medical rights regardless of gender,” according to NBC News. When the bill finally reached Parliament, it was passed 400-15 and 130-22 in the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively.
This law is important not just for the country, but for the whole continent. With the passing of this law, Thailand becomes only the third country in all of Asia — after Taiwan in 2019 and Nepal in 2023 — to allow same-sex marriage. According to the South China Morning Post, this comes at a crucial time in the region, when other countries are slowly moving forward when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights. Last year, a Hong Kong court ruled that same-sex partnerships must be legally recognized, and two Japanese courts ruled that Japan’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
But in some countries, like Korea or Mongolia, same-sex couples are unrecognized. In others, like Iran or Afghanistan, the punishment for “same-sex sexual activity” — as per the text of the laws — is death. However, the bill passed overwhelmingly through both houses of Thai Parliament.
Yet many people haven’t heard of this law. Mount Holyoke College student Victoria Sullivan ’28 stated, “It’s a great step forward [but] it’s such a normalized thing in America that it’s not a thought that crossed my mind that it wouldn’t be normal there.”
A key part in the campaign of normalization has been queer media. According to the Thailand Foundation, “Thai queer cinema has progressed so much over the decades. … [Now] it displays the nuanced experiences of the LGBTQIA individuals in modern Thai society … [it] provides space for the marginalized.”
The genre ranges from early movies like “The Last Song” (1985), which focuses on a trans woman, to docudramas like “#BKKY” (2015), which contains the interviews of a hundred Bangkok teenagers, to modern TV shows like “Moonlight Chicken” (2023), which follows three generations of queer men. Slowly, through the works of filmmakers, activists, politicians and everyone in between, Thailand has gone from a country where homosexuality was banned 100 years ago to a country whose prime minister went on social media the day after the act was passed to say, “Congratulations on everyone’s love! This was a fight for everyone. #LoveWins.”
On Jan. 22, 2025, thousands of people will again take to the streets in Bangkok, Thailand. Something will be different this time, because queer couples will finally be able to register their marriages and achieve the same rights as their cisgender, heterosexual counterparts. They will be able to make medical decisions, to adopt children and, most importantly, to build lives together in a way that was unthinkable 20 years ago. This creates hope that 20 years from now, the rest of Asia — and the rest of the world — will follow suit, making a better, more inclusive world for everyone.
The Thailand Foundation concluded, “Today, Thailand still has progress to be made in terms of social inclusivity, yet we see the hope in the continuous attempt to promote LGBTQIA+ rights … Thailand is and will always be a friendly place for all.”