Sawt Falasteen - 'Mock marriages' give hope to Thai LGBTQ community

City authorities organised the ceremonies for LGBTQ couples in all of Bangkok's 50 districts in a symbolic gesture of support as the national government works to pass a marriage equality bill that cleared an initial reading in parliament in December.

The events coincided with Valentine's Day, with one held at a ritzy shopping mall decked out in pink and carrying the slogan "Love has no boundaries".

Among the happy couples attending were Kan Kerdmeemool and her partner Pakotchakorn Wongsupa, who met through a mutual friend 30 years ago.

"I thought it was impossible," Kan, 67, told AFP after receiving a "mock marriage" certificate from the district office -- which carries no official weight for now.

"We deserve to have the same rights as other people."

For LGBTQ couples, the new law would mean inheritance and adoption rights they currently do not enjoy.

Lee Ronald Battiata, 65, an American man who met his Thai transwoman partner Ariya Milintanapa through a dating app, said the bill would benefit their two children -- one from Battiata's previous marriage and another through adoption.

"Even if you don't agree with our lifestyle, it still impacts children, and we're trying to make a life for them," he told AFP.

The marriage equality bill must pass through several more stages, but if successful, Thailand would be the first nation in Southeast Asia to recognise same-sex unions.

Naiyana Supapung, a gender activist of over four decades and part of the 13-member committee that studied the draft bill, said the law was expected to take effect before May this year.

"It's a historic moment of change," she told AFP.

- Huge first step -

Activists have been pushing for same-sex marriage rights for over a decade, but in a kingdom where politics is regularly upended by coups and mass street protests, the advocacy did not get far.

"Our politics were not stable. Our country was not ready," LGBTQ campaigner Matcha Porn-in told AFP.

The new law -- which was proposed by a group of activists and the cabinet -- is an amendment of a century-old civil code.

It would replace the terms "husbands and wives" with "spouses", and make the law gender neutral.

However, critics said there are still gaps in the legislation.

"The law was written by a group of men, so there are still traces of gender inequality," Naiyana told AFP.

But she believed the new law would be a good starting point.

"We try to do as much as we can, and we can take it from there."

Y.AlMasri--SF-PST