Thailand has become the first Southeast Asian country to legalise same-sex marriage, with hundreds of LGBTQ+ couples registering their marriages under the new Marriage Equality Act.
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On Thursday they gained the legal right to register their marriages, making it the first country in Southeast Asia and the third place in Asia to recognise same-sex unions, after Taiwan and Nepal.
Love was in the air in central Bangkok, where a popular shopping mall held a daylong gala to help accommodate the hundreds of same-sex couples who wanted to register their marriages on the very first day.
Thailand has a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity but struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law. Thai society has broadly conservative values, and members of the LGBTQ+ community say they face discrimination in everyday life, while also saying they’ve seen great improvement in recent years.
