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ASEAN Beat | Society | Southeast Asia
This yr’s Pleasure Parade introduced into the highlight Transfer Ahead Occasion chief Pita Limjaroenrat, who reaffirmed his assist for the nation’s LGBTQ group.
Thailand’s Pita Limjaroenrat, the chief of the Transfer Ahead Occasion, takes half within the annual Pleasure Parade in Bangkok, Thailand, June 5, 2023.
Credit score: Fb/Pita Limjaroenrat
On Sunday, June 5, Thailand’s capital held the most recent iteration of its yearly Pleasure Parade. The gathering began round 2 p.m. at Siam Sq., the center of Bangkok’s buying district, which turned the theater of the 2020-2021 protests towards incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, and ran effectively into the night with a celebration and road celebration alongside Ratchadamri Street. The occasion got here every week after Chiang Mai Pleasure, which marked the beginning of Pleasure Month within the nation. The month-long celebration of the LGBTQ tradition and group repeatedly attracts massive crowds of native Thais and foreigners throughout Southeast Asia.
The parade, first held within the capital in 2006, has lengthy served as an area for LGBTQ individuals in Thailand to collect and have fun their id, a much-needed protected area in a area that’s witnessing a rising crackdown on queer rights and expression. Moreover, the parade serves as a platform for the group to lift consciousness of the various social and political challenges they nonetheless face within the nation. This yr’s iteration, themed “Past Gender”, was no exception, and introduced into the highlight points confronted by intercourse staff and the county’s LGBTQ group at massive.
Though prostitution is formally unlawful in Thailand below the 1996 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, the nation has turn into a infamous vacation spot for sexual tourism, significantly within the red-light districts and therapeutic massage parlors of Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket island. Whereas there are not any official statistics assessing the extent of prostitution within the nation, a number of United Nations reviews estimate that the business generates round $6.4 billion yearly, accounting for round 1 p.c of the nation’s gross home product.
Activists denounce the trade-off between the financial weight the business represents and the dearth of provisions for intercourse staff because of the truth that prostitution is criminalized. The legalization motion, which began in 2003, additionally factors to the issue of monitoring and stopping the unfold of sexually transmitted infections, primarily HIV/AIDS, among the many intercourse employee inhabitants. The difficulty has turn into a principal level of advocacy for Pleasure activists, provided that homosexual males and transgender ladies face greater dangers of publicity.
Marriage equality can also be among the many most urgent points pushed for by LGBTQ activists in Thailand, and was equally on the forefront of this yr’s Pleasure Parade. Whereas same-sex actions had been by no means criminalized and get a sure stage of mainstream illustration in mainstream public discourse and media, particularly compared to neighboring international locations comparable to Malaysia or Singapore, authorized recognition of same-sex {couples} has lagged behind.
The difficulty was as soon as once more raised in public debate within the nation’s basic election held final month, which noticed a outstanding victory for the progressive Transfer Ahead Occasion (MFP). Within the aftermath of the election, MFP chief Pita Limjaroenrat introduced that he aimed to legalize same-sex marriage by 2028. Nevertheless, his means to take action will depend on whether or not Prayut and the conservative institution that backs him will permit the MFP to kind the following authorities, which stays extremely unsure right now.
Nonetheless, Pita’s election and dedication to transferring ahead with LGBTQ rights fueled a renewed sense of hope amongst Thais, which reached its effervescence throughout final weekend’s Pleasure Parade, which Pita and different main figures from MFP attended. Shortly after closing the march and reaching the gathering level in entrance of Central World Mall, Pita was invited to ship a speech on stage, drawing massive crowds of LGBTQ activists and supporters who took half within the Parade earlier within the day.
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