Thailand passes same-sex bill, becomes 3rd Asian country to legalise gay marriage

Tuesday saw the passage of a same-sex measure by the Thai Senate, legalising gay marriage in the nation.

Just ten of the 415 incumbent MPs voted against the bill when it was approved by the lower House earlier in March.

Should the measure ultimately become law, as it seems certain to do, Thailand will rank third among Asian nations and roughly 38th worldwide regarding same-sex marriage approval.

Taiwan and Nepal, two Asian nations, had already attained the status of being nations in which same-gender marriages are permitted.

With only four members voting against it and eighteen not participating in the vote, the Thai Senate approved the bill with 130 votes.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn will now consider the law and is anticipated to publish it in the Royal Gazette to indicate his consent.

Thailand is not surprised by this development, even though “equal marriage” is still illegal in many Asian nations. Large swaths of the population have long embraced it.

Since the Netherlands became the first country to legalise marriage for all in 2001, at least 37 other nations have passed similar legislation.

In October of last year, India was on the verge of allowing same-sex unions when the Supreme Court forwarded the matter to parliament.

The path to same-sex marriage had not been easy, not even in Thailand.

The vote on Tuesday was merely the conclusion of years of campaigning that was repeatedly blocked by sections of the country that oppose it.

Many traditional and conservative values are still present in parts of the Buddhist-majority country of Thailand, and LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) individuals continue to encounter discrimination and obstacles across the nation.

With a combined population of over 1.5 billion, or 20% of the world’s population, 37 countries have legalised same-sex or homosexual marriage.

Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Cuba are among the nations.

The other countries are Uruguay, the United States, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United States.

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