The kingdom’s first queer-gendered candidate elected to the House of Representatives was discouraged today but not giving up after losing a bid to establish a gender diversity panel.
Tanwarin “Golf” Sukkhapisit, who broke down in tears following Friday’s 365-to-101 defeat of a motion to establish a permanent LGBT-affairs committee, told Coconuts Bangkok this morning that next up is full legal recognition of marriage between same-sex couples.
“Of course I’m sad that we were unable to win this fight because setting up the committee was one of the reasons I joined the parliament,” the 45-year-old Future Forward Party lawmaker said Monday. Tanwarin said that designating an LGBT rights team would have been the “first time in Thai history” that gender diverse individuals had a place in the kingdom’s laws.
Election history: Thailand votes first-ever genderqueer candidate into parliament
Although Friday saw the motion handily rejected, it won the support of a handful of non-Future Forward legislators, mostly from the Thai Liberal, Pheu Thai and Democrat parties.
“It means that LGBT needs are not totally neglected in parliament, and that we are gaining understanding as well as more support from people,” said Tanwarin, who prefers the gender-neutral pronoun “they.”
Still, Tanwarin went into Friday believing the votes were there. Afterward, Tanwarin cried during a news conference, saying LGBT rights affects more than 7 million people in Thai society.
“Are those 7 million people not human? The fact that [LGBT individuals] struggle financially and cannot land good jobs because of discrimination, or that we don’t have the right to make own decisions regarding our futures, including family planning, like the rest of the society, is an important crisis that greatly affects our lives.”
Tanwarin said there’s still an uphill battle against negative stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination have long existed in multiple dimensions of Thai society and culture.
“We’re not going to uproot age-old beliefs overnight,” Tanwarin said.
The dichotomy is well-documented between socially tolerant, LGBT-friendly attitudes – from a very open trans community to a smorgasbord of sexuality identities – and practical matters of public life such marriage, public welfare and family planning.
Currently, LGBT issues are handled by a catch-all committee on children, women, the elderly, disabled and ethnic groups. Tanwarin and others believe that means policies are developed without understanding LGBT perspectives, such as rejecting civil partnerships in favor of marriage.
Establishing a dedicated committee would have not only brought that input, but also drawn state funds and the ability to hold hearings and conduct studies on targeted issues involving human rights, finance, consumer protection and the law.
By the end of the year, Future Forward hopes to bring forward its amendment to the Civil and Commercial Code that would expand the recently passed civil union law to include marriage.
“I don’t agree with the Civil Partnership bill at all,” Tanwarin said of the bill passed in the final days of 2018 that recognizes same-sex civil unions.
While it extends rights to jointly own property, gain inheritance and manage debt to all couples, it is still subordinate to full marriage and excludes some benefits involving civil servant benefits and personal income tax deductions.
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To Tanwarin and other gender diverse people, it formalizes a separate-and-unequal divide by legally marginalizing members of LGBT communities.
“I don’t agree with it at all. Why do we have to have our own set of laws? That just makes us feel weird, different and segregated,” Tanwarin said. The party will also take another stab at setting up the stand-alone gender diversity committee at that time.
Whether the political calculus will change or what condition the government will be in later this year remains to be seen.
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The public divide on the gender rights debate was laid bare in the reactions to Tanwarin’s tearful news conference following Friday’s vote.
“You guys have my support. Keep fighting! You did your best this time,” user Wichai1983 wrote Friday on a YouTube video of the moment.
Being the internet, other comments aired open hostility.
“It’s not a big deal, why do you have to be this dramatic?” user Toraichi wrote on the same video. “Even your kind didn’t vote for you. Why are you crying? Just go hang yourself, hahaha.”
Unshaken, Tanwarin says both sides of the argument are welcome to be debated.
“It’s a reminder that we are a democracy, and that everyone has a say. And as someone who believes in this system, I will hear and try to understand both sides of the argument. So regardless of their opinions, I am grateful for every feedback,” Tanwarin said.
Related stories:
Election history: Thailand votes first-ever genderqueer candidate into parliament
Everything you need to know about the Thai Civil Partnership Bill (so far)
Politics, Policies and Parades: Future Forward takes message to BKK voters (PHOTOS)
