LGBT bill still gets it wrong

Even though Thailand has adopted quite a tolerant attitude toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) community, there are always limits to this. One of these concerns their marital status. Same sex couples can have a wedding ceremony and live together openly, for example, but they cannot legally wed as heterosexual couples can.

A new civil partnership bill, which has been undergoing a 15-day period of public hearings since Monday prior to being submitted to the cabinet for vetting and approval, seems to be an effort to address this inequality. But it is still far from granting equal rights.

If this bill in its current form is passed into law, same sex couples may be entitled to a range of new legal rights. But they will still be treated as second-class citizens, not getting the full package of spousal rights and benefits granted to men and women who marry.

The bill is the product of a partly progressive but overly cautious move by the Rights and Liberties Protection Department under the Justice Ministry. It has evolved over time.

The first version was drafted in 2013 during the Yingluck Shinawatra government, the year France legalised same sex marriages. It was later revised into second and third versions in 2017 and 2018 under the current military regime.

But the more it is revised, the more backwards it seems to become.

The first version excluded parental rights for same sex partners to adopt and raise children. However, it did provide a range of meaningful rights usually conferred to married heterosexual couples.

These include entitlements to spousal benefits and welfare (including social security and pension funds and medical treatment), tax exemption, the choice of using a spouse's family name and changing their nationality. Foreign nationals who marry a Thai of the same gender would, under that version of the bill, be entitled to a marriage visa.

But the latest incarnation of the bill has removed all of those benefits. It has just kept the provisions on rights to inheritance, jointly managing assets and entering into legal and financial contracts.

The department has defended the bill as something that is being developed on a step-by-step approach. Of course, other countries including France have adopted similar approaches. But at the end of the day, they legalised same sex marriages.

There is no legitimate reason for an LGBT-friendly country like Thailand to not follow suit.

Given that the current government and the military-appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA) are dominated by conservatives, the Rights and Liberties Protection Department may take a less progressive and cautious approach because it wants to ensure the proposed legislation is passed by the cabinet and NLA; or, to put in other words, that it will not get dumped.

But the bill is a slap in the face to the LGBT community as a whole. Many people in the community have advocated for the rights that were provided in the first version as they sought to end the oppression of this minority group. Some have been humble, however, seeing this downgraded version as better than nothing.

The truth of the matter is, they should be entitled to the full package of benefits and rights granted to heterosexual married couples. This could be done easily by redefining the term "marriage" in the Civil and Commercial Code as an agreement between two people, rather than only one between a man and a woman. Lawmakers need only make a few minor amendments to the code. Once the term is redefined, same sex couples would also be entitled to other spousal benefits and rights in areas like taxation.

LGBT couples have contributed just as much to society as their heterosexual counterparts. They pay taxes. They vote. Many volunteer for good causes and work in a variety of professions. This civil partnership bill pays scant recognition of their immense contributions to society.

It is an egregious form of discrimination that does not fit the times.