ASIA - Jun 29, 2007
Thailand's Constitution Drafting Committee, working under the Kindom's increasingly unwelcome military junta, have decided to add protections for LGBT following a sensational case of discrimination against a transgender.
The committee voted to amend Article 30 of the charter so that differences in "sexual identity" could not be grounds for discrimination, ensuring that, officially, Thai homosexuals and transsexuals would enjoy equal rights.
However, they also noted that such recognition would not lead to sanctioning "homosexual consummation."
Gay activists believe that the recent rejection of Sutthirat Simsiriwong at the door of a well-known Bangkok nightclub, simply because she was transgender, had prompted the assembly to reverse their stand on protecting LGBT.
Natee Theerarojnapong, longtime gay AIDS activist and winner of a 2000 Utopia Award, reportedly burst into tears upon hearing the news.
"This is what we have fought for for decades," he said.
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