• Equal rights for same-sex couples approved by Thailand's Cabinet

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    Equal rights for same-sex couples approved by Thailand's Cabinet
    Thailand's Cabinet accepted a gender equality bill that offered same-sex couples equal rights...

    Digital Desk: Thailand's Cabinet approved a change to its civil law on Tuesday that will enable same-sex marriage, with the draught expected to be submitted to Parliament next month.

    According to Karom Polpornklang, a deputy government spokesperson, the Civil and Commercial Code amendment will change the words "men and women" and "husband and wife" to "individuals" and "marriage partners" so that same-sex couples can receive the same rights as heterosexual couples.

    He stated that the law would provide the right to build a family in a partnership between same-sex couples and that the next step would be to alter the pension fund law to recognise same-sex couples as well.

    According to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, the draft law will be presented to Parliament on December 12. If passed by Parliament and King Maha Vajiralongkorn, Thailand will be the third country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, following Taiwan and Nepal.

    Thailand, despite its reputation as an LGBTQ+-friendly country, has struggled to adopt a marriage equality bill.

    Last year, Parliament discussed multiple legislation revisions to allow marriage equality or civil unions, which do not give same-sex couples the same privileges as heterosexual couples. 

    All of the bills were not passed before the previous government's parliamentary session ended.

    The new administration, led by the Pheu Thai party, assumed power in August and resurrected the effort to adopt a marriage equality measure, which it had pledged during the election campaign.