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Thailand’s Senate has passed a marriage equality bill, paving the way for the country to become the first in Southeast Asia to recognise same-sex marriage.
The upper house on Tuesday approved the measure in its final reading – with 130 votes in favour from the 152 members in attendance, four against and 18 abstentions.
The bill will grant legal recognition to same-sex marriage.
The legislation will now go to King Maha Vajiralongkorn for assent, a formality that is widely expected to be granted. It will come into force 120 days after it is published in the royal gazette.
Once the law takes effect, Thailand will become the third Asian jurisdiction after Nepal and Taiwan to legalise gay marriage.
LGBTQ advocates called the move a “monumental Step forward"
It will cement Thailand's reputation as a relative haven for LGBTQ+ couples in a region where such attitudes are rare.
"This is the beginning of equality. It's not a universal cure to every problem but it's the first step towards equality," Danuphorn Punnakanta, an MP and chairman of the lower house's committee on marriage equality, told parliament while presenting a draft of the bill.
He noted: "This law wants to return these rights to these group of people, not grant them the rights."
The new law, which was passed by 400 of 415 lawmakers present, describes marriage as a partnership between two individuals, instead of between a man and woman.
And it will give LGBTQ+ couples equal rights to get marital tax savings, to inherit property, and to give medical treatment consent for partners who are incapacitated.
Under the law, married same-sex couples can also adopt children. However, the lower house did not adopt the committee's suggestion to use the term "parents" instead of "fathers and mothers".
Past attempts to legalise same-sex marriage failed despite broad public support.
A government survey late last year showed that 96.6% of those polled were in favour of the bill.
"Yes, I'm watching the parliamentary debate and keeping my fingers crossed," says Phisit Sirihirunchai, a 35-year-old openly gay police officer. "I'm glad and already excited that it is really going to happen. I am coming closer and closer to seeing my dreams come true."
Phisit said he and his partner, who had been together for more than five years, had been planning to get married on the day the law comes into effect.
However, the Thai parliament has so far rejected proposals to allow people to change their gender identity, despite the high visibility of transgender communities here.
