Senate passes law legalizing same-sex marriage, a first in Southeast Asia

A pioneering text in Southeast Asia. Thailand adopted a law legalizing same-sex marriage on Tuesday June 18, after a final favorable vote in the Senate. The vast majority of the 130 senators, appointed by the army, approved the text which will be presented to the king for entry into force by the end of the year. “It’s a victory for the people”underlined Tunyawaj Kamolwongwat, MP for the pro-democracy party Move Forward, before posing alongside other elected officials and collaborators with two LGBT+ flags, in a room of Parliament.

Thailand thus became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage and the third on the Asian continent, after Taiwan and Nepal. The first homosexual unions can be celebrated 120 days after the promulgation of the law, that is to say in the fall.

Festivities are planned later in the day, at the government palace and in central Bangkok, with a drag show on the program. In the capital, giant shopping centers, popular with tourists, have taken on the colors of the rainbow flag since the start of Pride month, as a sign of support. The LGBT+ community enjoys wide visibility in the Buddhist kingdom, known for its tolerance and which attracts gay tourists from conservative neighboring countries.