News - Thailand approves same-sex marriage bill

Thailand's Senate (upper house of parliament) has approved a bill to recognize same-sex marriages, approving it in its third and final parliamentary reading. This was reported by Prachatai newspaper.Of the senators who participated in the vote, 130 were in favor of the bill, 4 were against it and 18 abstained. It will acquire the status of law 120 days after publication in the Royal Gazette, after which Thailand will become the first country in Southeast Asia (ASEAN) to legalize same-sex marriage.Previous Thai governments in 2023 have already considered some form of legal recognition of same-sex unions. The latest attempt to pass a bill to legalize such marriages, which was proposed by the opposition Forward Movement Party, failed due to other competing bills and the upcoming parliamentary elections in May 2023.