News Forum - Gay rights advocacy groups seek help from opposition

[Thaiger]

LGBTQ+ advocacy groups are now turning to the opposition Pheu Thai Party for their support on attaining marriage equality in Thailand. This is coming on the heels of a major Constitutional Court ruling that essentially upheld the ban on same-sex marriage in the country. These groups are campaigning to revise the Civil and Commercial Code, which at the moment only recognizes marriage as being ‘between a man and a woman.’ A collective known as the Rainbow Fellows for Marriage Equality, which is a coalition of 58 different LGBTQ+ rights groups, sent an open letter to the leader of the Pheu […]

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[HolyCowCm]

Don't blow it!

[NCC1701A]

I'm starting a collective known as Equality for Straight Sexagenarian Fellows with Female Vicenarian Thai Partners.  

[Shade_Wilder]

 

I don't see why this is still an issue; its 2021. 

Back in the 80s, I graduated high school and moved in with a female pal of mine in another city. The first week, her brother came over and we did a bit of dinner and drank beer; it was a good laugh of an evening. The next morning, she told me that her brother was gay. In that era, no one (including me) was as accepting/tolerant of gays as things are these days; we used 'gay' as a slur among friends. But I had liked the guy, so what could you do? Then, my gal-pal told me that she was Bi-Sexual, and then listed off about 20 people that I knew in high school who were also gay or bi (I had had no idea). What could you do? It was both irrational and illogical to suddenly hate them all, so there and then I made my peace with the gays.

In the 90s, I watched the US debate on Gay Marriage with interest. The basic point for the God-Botherers of that time was that you shouldn't upend a long-term social norm (marriage) just because a few people opted to be 'different', and I thought that that argument actually made sense. However, the key aspect to it was that gay people were gay by 'choice'; if it wasn't a choice, then the argument did not hold. So, I asked gay people. Over the course of several years, I asked... 15-20 gay people if it was a choice or not, all said it wasn't and I couldn't think of a reason to disbelieve any of them. Further, and quite illuminating, many of them volunteered (independently of all the rest) that they wished that they weren't gay as their life would be simpler.

Fast forward to today in Thailand. We have all seen the Ladyboys for years and years; they are a part of Thai culture and society. Further, Thais are generally tolerant; Buddhists often are. Finally, Thais are practical and don't seem to be bothered by gays; in all my time in Thailand, I have never seen or really even heard of anti-gay sentiment. Anyone?

Just make it legal. Gay couples, be they men or women, are going to be together regardless of the law, so why not make things easier for them in regard to legal matters; that's all it is.