“It’s been a long battle filled with tears for us.”

That’s how Ann “Waaddao” Chumaporn describes the years leading up to this moment — when same-sex marriage becomes legal in Thailand on Thursday, more than a hundred couples will tie the knot in a wedding hall in one of Bangkok’s largest shopping malls. A blast of color and celebration.

Heard the same question throughout The long-running campaign for equal marriage laws After passing this, you will ask again: Why Thailand? Why is it nowhere else in Asia besides Taiwan and Nepal?

People think they know the answer. Thailand is known to be open and accepting of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. They have long been seen in all walks of life. Thai people are very easy-going about almost everything. “Mai pen rai” – no big deal – is a national catchphrase. More than 90% of Thais believe in Buddhism, but the LGBT lifestyle is not prohibited. Equality marriage, then, is undoubtedly inevitable.

But that’s not the case. “It’s not easy,” said Ms. Wadao, an organizer of the Bangkok Pride parade.

Thailand’s first Pride parade took place only 25 years ago. It was difficult to get police approval at the time and the march was a chaotic, unfocused event. After 2006, until 2022, only two marches were held. In 2009, a planned pride march in Chiang Mai had to be abandoned due to threats of violence.

“Neither our families nor society accepted us,” Ms Wadao added. “There are times when we think marriage equality will never happen, but we never give up.”

Although Thailand is generally tolerant of LGBT people, achieving equal rights, including marriage, will require firm action to change official and social attitudes in Thailand. Attitudes have also changed.

When Chakkrit “Ink” Vadhanavira started dating his partner in 2001, they were both starring in a TV series. At the time, Thailand’s Ministry of Health still officially described homosexuality as a mental illness.

“It was not socially acceptable at that time for gay men to play male leads. There was a lot of gossip about us in the media, much of which was untrue, and that really put pressure on us,” Mr. Chakrit recalled.

“We decided at that point that if we were going to date each other, we had to leave showbiz.”

They are still together but have stayed away from the spotlight for more than two decades, running a successful production company.

A lot has changed in that time – and their industry gets some credit for it.

Tinnaphop Sinsomboonthong, an assistant professor at Thammasat University in Thailand, said the way LGBT characters are portrayed in Thai TV dramas, from comical and eccentric to mainstream roles, has had a great impact.

“Now, they see us as normal people, like you see in real life,” he said. “You might have LGBTQ+ colleagues in the office, or your LGBTQ+ neighbors. It really helps change perceptions and values ​​across generations.”

The so-called Boy Love show helped the rest of society realize the need not only to be tolerant, but to be fully accepting of the community and have equal rights.

These romantic dramas, which feature love stories between beautiful young men, have become extremely popular over the past decade, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.

They are now one of Thailand’s most successful cultural exports, with huge audiences in places like China. Shows like “My School Principal” and “Love Sick” have been viewed hundreds of millions of times on streaming networks.

Meanwhile, activists have become more focused and united in pushing for changes to the law. Many different LGBT groups came together in the Change 1448 movement – 1448 is the clause in Thailand’s Civil Code covering the definition of marriage – and later in the Rainbow Coalition for Marriage Equality.

They linked up with other groups in Thailand fighting for greater rights and freedoms, and learned to work with political parties in parliament to persuade them to change their stance on the law.

The resumption of Pride parades in 2022 and getting the government to recognize and promote Thailand’s appeal as an attractive destination for LGBT travelers could also help change public perception.

“We didn’t fight, we negotiated,” Mr Tinnap said. “We knew we had to talk to Thai society and we gradually changed our attitude.”

Thai political developments also contributed to the passage of the equal marriage law in parliament.

For five years after a 2014 coup, the country was ruled by a conservative military government that was only willing to consider recognizing civil partnerships for LGBT couples, but not full rights such as inheritance.

But in Thailand’s 2019 election to restore civilian rule, a new, young, reformist party called Future Forward, which fully supports equal marriage, performed unexpectedly well. They won the third-largest number of seats, a sign of Thailand’s growing thirst for change.

when one year later future future disbandment A controversial court ruling sparked months of student-led protests calling for sweeping reforms, including curbs on the monarchy’s powers.

LGBT activists have been prominent in these protests, giving them greater visibility across the country. The protests eventually died down and many leaders were arrested for questioning the role of the monarchy.

But in the 2023 election, Future Forward’s successor calls himself Keep moving forward and perform even better than in 2019. Won more seats than any other party. It’s clear that Thais of all ages are hungry for change.

Conservatives blocked Forward from forming a government because they opposed its calls for massive political reforms.

But by this time, equal marriage was less controversial. Few objected. Its passage enabled a clumsy and unpopular coalition government formed without “moving forward” to quickly achieve something that satisfied the majority of the country.

However, Thailand is an outlier in Asia. Few other countries in the region are likely to follow suit.

The influence of Islam in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei makes the concept of equal marriage impossible. LGBT people there face discrimination and prosecution; in Brunei, sex between men is punishable by death.

In the Philippines, it is becoming increasingly accepted for LGBT couples to live together openly. But the Roman Catholic Church strongly opposes same-sex marriage.

In Vietnam, like Thailand, there are no religious or ideological barriers, but campaigning to change laws like in Thailand is difficult under an authoritarian regime. The situation in China is roughly the same. This won’t happen unless the ruling Communist Party supports equal marriage (which it shows no sign of doing so).

Even in democracies like Japan and South Korea, where political parties are mostly conservative and dominated by older men, the outlook looks bleak.

“It’s mainly conservative Christians who are blocking it,” said Chae-yoon Han, executive director of the Beyond the Rainbow Foundation in Korea.

“Most, if not all, of the politicians in President Yoon’s conservative party are devout Christians who view marriage equality as a ‘left-wing agenda’ that could lead to a ‘left-wing, communist takeover’ of society.”

India seemed on track to legalize same-sex marriage in 2023 when the decision was taken by the Supreme Court – but The judge refusedsaid it was up to Parliament.

Therefore, Thailand hopes to be a pioneer and benefit from it. Tourism is one of the few areas of Thailand’s economy that is performing well in the post-pandemic recovery, with the country seen as a safe and welcoming destination for LGBT holidaymakers.

Now, more and more same-sex couples from other Asian countries are choosing to live here.

Their marriages could be legally recognized, which would allow them to raise children and grow old with their opposite-sex partners with nearly all the rights and protections of heterosexual couples.