Australia will assist within hosting two major LGBTQ+ events to market gender equality in Thailand, shortly after the Asia-Pacific Economic Assistance (Apec) 2022 summit in Bangkok from Nov 18-19.
During a recent press conference on the Australian embassy within Bangkok, the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM) announced the 2 events will run from Nov 25-27 to promote awareness of LGBTQ+ inclusivity in Thailänder society.
The first will be the HERO Awards 2022 wedding ceremony, co-hosted by the Australian embassy. This commemorates LGBTQ+ advocates in the Asia-Pacific region who may have contributed significantly to improving the legal rights and health of these minority groups below 11 categories.
Australian ambassador, Angela Macdonald, said the embassy is certainly collaborating with the APCOM Foundation in Bangkok, which prioritises HIV issues that affect the lives of gay plus bisexual men. This season marks the foundation’s 15th anniversary as well as the 70th year considering that Thailand and Quotes established diplomatic connections.
“Australia is proud in order to host the 2022 HERO Awards in its embassy. This unique event does not only celebrate some amazing leadership from LGBTQI and HIV organizations in the Asia-Pacific region, but also highlights some key challenges with regards to human rights, wellness, and wellbeing of the marginalised communities, which were made worse due to the Covid-19 pandemic — and that we all need to assistance, ” she mentioned.
The 2nd event, co-organised simply by APCOM and municipal society organisations, will be Thailand Pride Event 2022. Under the banner “Unity and Diversity”, it will run from Nov 15-27 close to Silom Road with the main event to be staged at Lumpini Recreation area on Nov 27.
Nikorn Chimkong, founder from the Bangkok Rainbow Organisation and a key member of the event’s arranging committee, said this would be the second major Pride event of 2022 after similar parades were held within June.
“This marks the collaboration of a broad variety of civil society companies, ” he stated.