Thailand’s actions are notable against the backdrop of an unfortunate global trend of opposing LGBTQ+ rights and supporting harsh, discriminatory anti-gay laws. This is particularly true in Asia and Africa. Last year, Uganda passed a draconian anti-gay law, leading a surge in African countries criminalizing consensual same-sex relations.
Also of concern is the apparent backsliding in the United States nine years after the Supreme Court struck down state bans on same-sex marriage. More than two-thirds of Americans still support same-sex marriage, but support among Republicans has fallen to 46 percent. The downward trend in Republican support may be linked to conservative politicians, such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who pushed discriminatory laws against teaching sexual orientation in public schools and sought to restrict the rights of transgender people. Legal experts also speculate that an emboldened conservative majority on the Supreme Court could overturn the 2015 decision. Obergefell v. Hodges The decision to legalize same-sex marriage for the same reasons that previously overturned it Roe v. Wade — But some justices have sought to block such predictions.
Thailand has always been something of a progressive outcast in Southeast Asia. Though it adheres to conservative, Buddhist traditions (stores may not sell alcohol between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. or on certain religious holidays, for example), it is also the only country in Asia to have legalized marijuana; marijuana shops are now as ubiquitous as massage parlours. Thailand has long demonstrated a tolerant attitude toward openly gay and transgender people, who now feature regularly on television shows and are staples of pop culture.
The Thai government may have its own interests at stake by legalizing same-sex marriage. Legalization is likely a way to garner support from young Thai voters who are still angry that their main opposition party, Forward Now, won last year’s election but was blocked from forming a government by the conservative and military elites who still dominate the political establishment. Forward Now currently faces a likely dissolution in Thailand’s Supreme Court, and its leaders could be banned from politics for years after campaigning for reform of restrictive laws that criminalize criticism of the monarchy. When its predecessor, the Future Forward Party, similarly dissolved after performing well in the 2019 elections, angry young protesters took to the streets in widespread demonstrations and the subsequent crackdown saw more than 1,000 people, including children, arrested.
Thailand is also trying to revive its lucrative tourism market after a lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, and its legalization of same-sex marriage has made the country Southeast Asia’s most gay-friendly destination.
Whatever the government’s motivations, the same-sex marriage law establishes Thailand as a bastion of marriage equality and LGBTQ+ rights in an otherwise difficult region. Singapore decriminalized sexual acts between men in 2022 but simultaneously defined marriage in its constitution as between a man and a woman. Three Muslim-majority countries in the region — Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei — remain virulently anti-gay.
Indonesia’s penal code, passed in 2022, criminalizes consensual sex outside marriage. Since same-sex marriage is not recognized, it effectively criminalizes all gay sexual activity. In Malaysia’s conservative-ruled state of Johor, authorities late last year announced plans to build “rehabilitation centers” to “put back on the right path” gays and others deemed “deviants.”
Last fall, India’s Supreme Court rejected a public petition to recognize same-sex marriage, saying the decision was up to the elected parliament.
Asians, on the whole, may be less intolerant than their own governments: A recent Pew Research Center poll found that 68% of people in Japan support same-sex marriage, 65% in Vietnam, 58% in Hong Kong, 57% in Cambodia, and 53% in India. In Singapore, support was more evenly split.
According to various reports, globally, the legalization of same-sex marriage and the recognition of LGBTQ+ rights are closely linked to the development of a country’s democracy. Democracy works best when it is based on the principle of equality for all and the guarantee of equal rights for all citizens. Class discrimination contradicts these ideals. Democracy and the recognition of same-sex marriage go hand in hand. That is why Southeast Asia is still lagging behind.
