Thailand’s Constitutional Court ruled Nov. 17 that a law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman in the country is constitutional.
The Foundation for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Rights and Justice, a Thai advocacy group, filed a lawsuit that challenged Section 1448 of the country’s Civil and Commercial Code, which does not extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. Bloomberg said the Constitutional Court in its ruling said Thai lawmakers “should draft laws that guarantee the rights for gender diverse people.”
Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch who focuses on Thailand, in a tweet said the decision makes the “government’s pledges to promote gender equality meaningless.”
Breaking! #Thai Constitutional Court upholds marriage law, which states that marriage can only be contracted between man and woman, making government’s pledges to promote gender equality meaningless. @HRW #WhatsHappeningInThailand pic.twitter.com/cSmQOKE7Pd
— Sunai (@sunaibkk) November 17, 2021
The Thai Cabinet in 2018 approved a bill that would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions. The government last year backed a second version of the measure. Tunyawaj Kamolwongwat, a Thai MP who is a member of the Move Forward Party, has introduced a marriage equality bill.
Taiwan in 2019 became the first, and so far only, country in Asia to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.
