Lawmakers in Thailand voted to pass a marriage equality bill on Tuesday, a move that puts the country on a clear path to becoming the first in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
The Thai Senate passed the bill on Tuesday afternoon by a vote of 130 to 4, with some abstentions. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives in March. The legislation will become law after being reviewed by a Senate committee and the Constitutional Court and receiving royal assent from the king, a formality widely expected to be approved.
“After 20 years of trying to make this legal, in the end, love won,” 18-year-old activist Plaifa Kyoka Shodladd said on the Senate floor after the vote.
The bill’s passage underscores Thailand’s status as a relative haven for gay couples in Asia. Only Taiwan and Nepal have legalized same-sex marriage.
Although India came close to doing so last year, the Supreme Court deferred the decision to Parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly opposes the legalization of same-sex marriage.
In some Asian countries, same-sex sexual behavior is a criminal offence. Indonesia, where same-sex marriage is illegal, will make sex outside marriage illegal in 2022. The group later said it would not carry out the executions after widespread international outcry.
Thailand’s bill defines marriage as a partnership between two people aged 18 or over, but does not specify their gender. It also gives LGBTQ couples equal rights to adopt children, claim tax breaks, inherit property and consent to medical treatment if a partner becomes incapacitated.
The bill has been controversial since the first version was introduced more than 20 years ago. While Thailand is one of the most open places in the world for gay couples, it is otherwise socially conservative. In February, lawmakers rejected a proposal that would have allowed people to change their gender on official documents.
But a majority of the Thai public supports marriage equality. Last year, a Pew Research Center survey showed that 60% of Thai adults expressed support for legalizing same-sex marriage.
