Posted on 07/25/2013 7:56:53 PM PDT by TexGrill
BANGKOK - A draft law being readied for parliament that seeks to offer lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and questioning (LGBTIQ) couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples could make Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize gay marriage.
Last year, Nathee Theeraronjanapong (55) and his partner Atthapon Janthawee (38) decided to make their 20-year relationship legal. Citing section 1448 of Thailand's Civil and Commercial Code, which deems same-sex marriage unlawful, the head of registrations in Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai
handed the couple a letter of denial.
In response, the couple filed a complaint with the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission, the Administrative Court and the National Human Rights Commission insisting that Thailand's constitution guarantees them equal protection under the law.
The political storm following that incident prompted a member of parliament to gather a committee of parliamentarians, 15 scholars and LGBTIQ activists to draft the country's first civil union bill to legalize same-sex marriage.
Presenting the draft law on same-sex unions to Thailand's parliament is Wiratana Kalayasiri, Democrat parliamentarian from the southern Thai city of Songkhla, who is also the chairman of the Legal Justice Human Rights committee.
He says most legislators in Thailand are aged over 47, which partially explains the staunch opposition to the law in its early stages.
(Excerpt) Read more at atimes.com ...
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