House deliberation to start in December
PUBLISHED : 27 Oct 2023 at 06:14
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin pledged yesterday to push to pass three bills, including a draft law on “marriage equality”, which are due to be deliberated by the cabinet next Tuesday and subsequently be forwarded to parliament.
The marriage equality bill aims to amend the Civil and Commercial Code to allow anyone of a suitable age to register their marriage regardless of their gender. The current code only recognises marriage between a man and a woman.
The second bill to be examined focuses on a recognition bill and would allow transgender people to amend their gender marker in their official identity documents. The third bill would legalise prostitution by amending the 1996 Act on illegal prostitution suppression and prevention.
Mr Srettha has affirmed that the government is committed to pushing to pass all three laws and is ready to negotiate with all relevant organisations in support of them, said government spokesman Chai Wacharonke.
He was speaking after chairing a meeting on the three bills yesterday. It followed a fresh petition submitted by 36 civic groups fighting for gender equality.
The PM also promised to place these three bills high on the meeting agenda of the House, which is expected to begin deliberating them by early December, said Mr Chai.
“The PM has assured us that the government supports and will push for marriage equality and other related laws. It now looks set to negotiate with all other organisations concerned in order to [literally] tear down the wall [of inequality],” said the spokesman.
Mr Srettha also pledged to do whatever it takes to ensure these bills will sail through all the deliberations in the House and be passed into law in one go, said Mr Chai.
One concern raised by Mr Srettha at yesterday’s meeting was that the government will have to also speed up replacing conscription with voluntary recruitment so that those who change their gender marker from female to male won’t have to face forced conscription, said Mr Chai.
Mr Srettha also relayed the government’s support for a proposal that Thailand host Bangkok World Pride 2028, demonstrating to the rest of the world Thailand’s open-mindedness while stimulating the economy.