27-6-2023 (BANGKOK) The United States and the United Kingdom have pledged their support towards the promotion of LGBTQ+ rights in Thailand. The announcement was made by the US and UK envoys at the US-UK Annual Pride Event, which was held on June 23 with the theme “United in Love 2023”.
The event was organized to celebrate the efforts of human rights defenders working on LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion, as well as to reaffirm the UK and US commitment to gender equality and LGBTQ+ communities in Thailand. Both envoys stressed that everyone, everywhere, should be free to love who they want.
Mark Gooding, the British ambassador, praised Thailand as a welcoming country towards LGBTQ+ individuals from all around the world, but also noted that the country is currently on its own journey towards gender equality. He emphasized the importance of ensuring gender equality for LGBTQ+ individuals, drawing on his own experiences with his husband. Mr Gooding and his partner were among the first couples to register when the UK passed the Civil Partnership Bill in 2005, and they married in 2015 after the Marriage Act was amended in 2014.
“It is important to be treated equally, not differently from other people. Not be given more, not be given less. Also, the rights that come with [marriage], from tax benefits, inheritance, need to be equal,” Mr Gooding said.
When asked to give advice to the incoming government on LGBTQ+ rights, he said that the UK is ready to support the push, and he looked forward to seeing and sharing the experience.
Robert F Godec, the US envoy, also expressed his pleasure at the progress made by the US and Thailand on LGBTQ+ rights. “We look forward to working shoulder to shoulder with the community and Thai government to share our experiences and hopefully continue to make progress in the months and years ahead… This community needs to be fully and globally recognized and fully free to love whom they love and marry whom they wish and make their own choices about their lives. That is what’s important, and it is true across the entire world,” he said.
