Thai Lesbians Banned From Marriage On Valentines Day

[webfact]

Officials refuse to register marriage of women couple in Pathum Thani

PATHUM THANI: -- A women couple unsuccessfully tried to register their marriage on the Valentine's Day here Sunday.

Captain-designated Juthamanee Kungwol and Kamolchanok Yaemsung went to register their marriage at the Tambon Bang Kadi Municipality but Pitthaya

Sawangul, the clerk of the municipality, informed the two that the law did not permit the registration of same-sex marriage.

-- The Nation 2010-02-14

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[SeanMoran]

Oh y goodness gracious! Let this be a lesson to all of us that we must obey the law, and wear a condom, even on the ubiquitos american Valentine's Day!

[Puccini]

Yes, that's the law in Thailand, not just on Valentine's day but the whole year 'round.

[SeanMoran]

Yes, that's the law in Thailand, not just on Valentine's day but the whole year 'round.

Hopefully those poor downtrodden ladies might take some small consolation from the millions of baht they'll get from the girlie magazines for their stories about this pathetic prank.

[brahmburgers]

Yes, that's the law in Thailand, not just on Valentine's day but the whole year 'round.

Hopefully those poor downtrodden ladies might take some small consolation from the millions of baht they'll get from the girlie magazines for their stories about this pathetic prank.

What a cold bugger you are - to see it as a 'pathetic prank.' I saw completely differently. Two women who want to co-habitate together as a legal couple, perhaps gaining tax benefits and/or some financial relief for one when the other dies. But mainly I see it as a courageous act, knowing they'd probably have their request shot down and thereby be sad and lose face in the process.

Personally, I don't have a fixed opinion on gay marriage. I lean to keeping marriage a union between a man and a woman, but I think there should be a provision for a sort of civil union between same sex couple and/or katoy. The benefits of tax relief or monetary benefit from a union should not only be taken by male/female unions.

There is also the varying parameters for farang wanting to get visas. There is one set of rules for single farang, and another set for married - (married have a half the monetary requirement of single). ...but that's stepping out in to another topic.

[Bottlerocket]

It's because women cannot be considered head of household. Two ladies married would only cause think too much.

[Portlandstone]

What the heck is up with all this we-dont-like-man lesbian stuff going on around Bangkok these days?

Why are they allowed to frolick and grope on each other out in the clear open when male/female couples have to maintain decorum or face shame and loss of face? Why don't Thai parents care at all that their lovely young daughter is getting exploited in bed by another female, but if it were by a male, especially a farang, the dating procedure would have to be prim and proper, better yet be disallowed?

[Bagwan]

Why don't Thai parents care at all that their lovely young daughter is getting exploited in bed by another female?

Exploited???????????????????? Silly me. I thought that sex in all its forms was indulged in by mutual agreement. Wouldn't it be rape otherwise?

Are you suggesting that ladies of legal age should not be able to follow their sexual preferences? I do not like to see public overt displays of affection by anyone but what adults do privately is no business of anybody else. Would I be correct in assuming that just because you do not dress up in a pink tutu and swing from a chandelier that you would ban others from following such a bent?

BTW An Amphur open for business on a Sunday? Really?

[cdnvic]

BTW An Amphur open for business on a Sunday? Really?

They are on valentine's day. It's their busiest day of the year.

[fabianfred]

Perhaps the frequency of Thai boys just taking their virginity and then dropping them for a newer model... especially when they get pregnant....turns many girls against the opposite sex. They are probably better treated by their own.

[granuaile]

Yes, that's the law in Thailand, not just on Valentine's day but the whole year 'round.

Hopefully those poor downtrodden ladies might take some small consolation from the millions of baht they'll get from the girlie magazines for their stories about this pathetic prank.

What I find pathetic is the thinly veiled homophobia of some comments here. How is it a prank for two people who love each other to seek the legal rights that come with formal marriage recognition. It is something that many farang already have in their native countries and which many of us are struggling for in the U.S. If I meet a woman I love here (and I am out as a lesbian) I hope that I can have that marriage recognized here as well as in the US.

It is only through the bravery of individuals such as these two wonderful women that change will come, and it is coming in Asia. Nepal's Supreme Court has ruled that same-gender couples must be afforded the same marriage opportunities as opposite-gender couples. China has debated the issue in their legislative bodies and I feel that it will pass in the not too distant future. So why not Thailand? It is only through the brave efforts people such as these two women that it can happen.

I say thank you to Juthamanee Kungwol and Kamolchanok Yaemsung.

Granuaile

[granuaile]

What the heck is up with all this we-dont-like-man lesbian stuff going on around Bangkok these days?

Why are they allowed to frolick and grope on each other out in the clear open when male/female couples have to maintain decorum or face shame and loss of face? Why don't Thai parents care at all that their lovely young daughter is getting exploited in bed by another female, but if it were by a male, especially a farang, the dating procedure would have to be prim and proper, better yet be disallowed?

Why should they do so any less than a male-female couple?

You make two erroneous assumptions here. First by broadening it as Thai-Farand, rather it was a Thai-Thai couple. And secondly that it is exploitive. There are certainly many farang lesbians here that are exploitive and see Thailand as a sexual playground. However I believe that is a minority. I am tempted to say it is a much smaller group than the males that exploit women here but in actuality I don't know that, and I know loving Thai-Farang couples lesbian, gay, and straight. People who love each other should be able to have the benefits that accrue to marriage as well as (IMHO) to call it marriage.

But it is not lesbian couples that I see groping in public, and certainly i would not though I have held a woman's hands here, looked into their eyes in public with a look of "I love..." And I have never seen it in the lesbian clubs here, rather I suspect that sort of thing is reserved for the straight venues in Patpong. I prefer the lesbian and ordianry Thai venues myself.

[granuaile]

Thank you to those who have spoken up for this brave couple.

[cdnvic]

One flame and the flamer removed. Keep it civil please.

[petebkk]

Thank you to those who have spoken up for this brave couple.

Not brave but stupid, of course it was a prank as they knew perfectly well it is illegal for gays to register marriages, and quite right too IMO. Personally I have no problem with male homosexuals here, ladyboys or hetros, but the men hating toms and dees, especially the toms are a pain. They often want to thrust what they are who they are in everyone's face. Strange that toms want to look like men and act like men, but actually very often hate them, toms and dees are often very fvcked up.

Homosexuality does not make a saint out someone. They are just people, good/bad/misguided. I know several toms and dees who are decent, respectable people, not man-hating in anyway. I also know a couple of toms who appear to be looking at the world from something opposite of a rose-tinted glass. What does that prove? Nothing

Regarding their attempt to register a gay marriage being a prank, I would like to remind you of the name "Rosa Parks", among many others.

[Naam]

Perhaps the frequency of Thai boys just taking their virginity and then dropping them for a newer model... especially when they get pregnant....turns many girls against the opposite sex. They are probably better treated by their own.

and they won't get pregnant

[luckyluke]

and they won't get pregnant

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Unless they use the donor sperm method.

[animatic]

Any mechanism that holds a would be commited couple together and allows for the familial obligations to be shared and passed on,

is something that cuts down on random sex and it's health consequences, and despondency and it's mental health consequences,

and is a positive social function. It's a fact some people are just wired differently, so pretending they don't have the same social needs

as the rest of us is just stupidity on an organized and prejudicial level.

Civil unions for couples of any sort wishing it is a useful and safer mechanism for society and public health.

Regardless if it goes against certain philosophical themes for certain groups.

[needforspeed]

Perhaps the frequency of Thai boys just taking their virginity and then dropping them for a newer model... especially when they get pregnant....turns many girls against the opposite sex. They are probably better treated by their own.

Corect, i hear this with many thai woman, pregnant, children and man gone, woman in.

[needforspeed]

It's because women cannot be considered head of household. Two ladies married would only cause think too much.

and both start crying

Edited February 15, 2010 by needforspeed

[TAWP]

Perhaps the frequency of Thai boys just taking their virginity and then dropping them for a newer model... especially when they get pregnant....turns many girls against the opposite sex. They are probably better treated by their own.

I know of one openly lesbian couple with in acquaintance reach (and some girls that played but are not) and the butch girl regularly physically abuses the feminine one. (Intervention by her friends are on the way.)

So you were saying...?

[TAWP]

Thread title is not represented in the article nor used as the articles headline.

[davelec]

Thank you to those who have spoken up for this brave couple.

I fail to see the bravery, it was just a cheap and pointless publicity stunt as gay marriage is not allowed in Thailand or many other countries, even in California. I think people get sick of hearing about the 'rights' of minorities and this sort of posturing. I doubt if gay marriage will ever be allowed in Thailand. Nobody is saying they should be discriminated against, but most people feel gay marriage is not acceptable, tough!

[TAWP]

Their rights aside - everyone should have the right to register as an 'item' to one or how many they want - they knew they would be turned down and this was indeed a PR stunt.

A cause to fight but the thread title wording is so misleading it is still making me cringe.

[bkkjames]

As the clipping said, against the laws of the land.

Try again once / if the law has been changed. Next.

[menostay]

Another crackdown...my goodness.

[kiwiinasia]

Lesbians don't exist, Queen Victoria said so.

[davelec]

.

Regarding their attempt to register a gay marriage being a prank, I would like to remind you of the name "Rosa Parks", among many others.

Did you know that Rosa Parks was not the first woman to insist on sitting in the white area on the bus and make a protest about it. There was a girl who did it months before but the civil rights movement dropped her like a brick as she was pregnant and unmarried. Parks was seen as being far more appealing because of her light complexion. Civil rights for American blacks is hardly the same thing as a couple of lesbians who just wanted to get into the papers.

[rkidlad]

I don't understand why gays can't get married.

Gay couples should be allowed the same opportunity of being just as unhappy as straight married couples.

[ovaltina]

There is an increasing opinion among doctors that in many cases lesbianism, homosexuality & transgenderism are not a life-style choice, but are a piece of that individuals psychological & hormonal make-up dating back to their childhood & early teens. Obviously in todays world there are a minority who 'dabble' in various aspects of bi/homosexuality etc. as adults, but also for some people it is something that is deeply rooted in their psyche from a very early age.

To criminalise or discriminate against somebody because of the way their brains & physiology were from late childhood, be that gay or gender-dysphoric, is a crime no less than racism. Thailand has got a lot of bad press for treating gay & transgendered people as 3rd class citizens over the years, I think as an outsider it is correct to respect Thais conservative and traditional views on family etc. & be grateful to be here at all. Maybe one day they will get up to speed with the current medical opinion on gay & trans people being physiologically wired that way & it not being a trendy lifestyle choice for them.