The Catholic Church in Thailand is not in favor of the proposed civil partnership bill that is reportedly about to be approved by the country’s Office of the Council of State.
A Catholic priest, who asked not to be named for lack of authority from his bishop, said marriage is between a man and a woman “and therefore blessings cannot be extended to same-sex couples.”
Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam has earlier said the proposed law that will allow same-sex marriage has already been approved and is being reviewed by the parliament.
Media reports said an online petition to legalize same-sex marriage has gained support in recent weeks following demonstrations by LGBTQ+ groups.
The country’s Constitutional Court, however, has ruled that the current Thai marriage law, which states that marriage can only be contracted between a man and a woman, does not violate the Constitution.
In early 2019, a Thai female couple who sought to legally wed but saw their case rejected by the registrar, filed a complaint with the Ombudsman on the grounds that denying marriage registration to LGBTQ couples is discrimination.
The Ombudsman, however, ruled that such denial is not discrimination because the law only considers gender assigned at birth.
The Constitutional Court then ruled that the current Civil and Commercial Code, which only allows for a man and a woman to register their marriage, is not against people’s constitutional rights, marking a blow for proponents of same-sex marriages.
The Thai priest told LiCAS.news that even as Pope Francis said that “homosexual people have a right to be in a family,” the pontiff did not indicate that he is supporting same-sex “marriage.”
