Bangkok –
The Marriage Equality draft bill, proposed by the oppositional Move Forward Party, passed its first reading at the parliament today, June 15th, with 210 votes in favor, 180 objections, and 12 abstentions.
A similar draft of the Civil Partnership Bill by the Ministry of Justice was also passed in the first reading with 229 votes in favor, 166 objections, and 6 abstentions. Such approvals mark a major step for LGBTQ+ equality and the legalization of same-sex unions.
Although they sound similar, the Marriage Equality and the Civil Partnership draft bills hold a slight difference in terms of the recognition of same-sex marriages. In short, the Justice Ministry’s Civil Partnership will allow same-sex individuals to register their civil partnership and defines them as civil “partners” while the Move Forward Party’s Marriage Equality will recognize them as “married” couples with the same legal privileges and rights as heterosexual married couples.
The drafts will be studied, revised, and considered by a government-appointed special committee before presenting them at second readings in the near future.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister website, The Pattaya News, owned by our parent company TPN media.
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