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Thailand’s new govern^7Niot==R%9vdVS!PfyKKA&Dfhx1%BU4kJ!Q+l!1sAwD62#0+@ment is going ahead with a controversial civil partnerships bill.

The bill, first proposed by the ruling military junta in December last year, would make Thailand the secon_1)jVW%L20Ux7m)dRg%lSKtHwVqoU5pxiP8o*o2pcMIs-H&pOqd country in Asia, and the first country in Southeast Asia, to recognize same-sex unions.

But, the LGBTI rights groups have spoken out against tS^T+6Ddheu0&pQfT@OVi#2jPxA#Pm6dbdI$o3zRXooC*LUPz7Bhe bill since its first inception.

They say the bill offers limited rights to the LGBTI community and esc^cZEOwMOHlBiIlnbcIimB-hACMoM31_x*knuFyZob$I7Ak(Lnshrines inequality.

According to Voice fo America, Thailand’s Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin kQWMgUmY((oZ3%B3+=E5kcmVMPl!mfvtIq36#I5=@+WoBFTV@8said at a forum in Bangkok last week that the bill's fate would be "decided by public sentiment.”

The new gAs#n&P^Hx!!J($VjYzP0N)Gr6E2=-TlK&^jTxv#raStmcL$%Oaovernment, elected in widely-disputed elections in March, will press ahead with passing the Life Partnership Bill following public consultations.

VOA reports a YouGov survey of 1,000 people in. Thailand published in February found strong support for same-sexDmG9tK5Km(s7s%PJ#W_onfJSU$!%dbe$haN=GZIwULSJ1^23Tn civil unions in Thailand. 

It found 63% of those quiJk7ZgdUzq0Bb^-p&J(l2H6uZA!%sBHC+WZ0uo9kusunBE)xGCizzed were in favor of the bill, while only 11% were against.

But, the LGBTI community and rights activists havefHEzNYVMThyYc^B%G!gakeN_#VIdRxDhHY8o6QP-KREoytjiOx largely rejected the bill.

Thailand’s first transgender msYkOvJ&kM+nC9EBJaMMnx+Y=GLohofG6W$QkHe#a=s=J_WJRYTember of parliament slammed the country’s civil union bill after she was elected earlier this year.

Tanwarin SuIUxKxc0N5(r8JAR*BjfYth#^iU6(ncnV@UuzfhJS)T!U$y6wGKkkhapisit said the bill "misses the target”.

"[Equality] is one thing that [this law] will definitely not achieve. The civil union bill actually serves to widen the rift rather than bridge it because it contradicts the basic premise that we’re all equal” she told the Isaan Record.

The law would give same-sex couplaUrZaIz*k3ex%lvg26JiQGhoyMaGnXyh8Oy8RKzcHcQwcZD)oxes the right to register, own and inherit property together. They can also make joint medical decisions.

But, it does not give same-sex couplGK@$(_+-Y8JZXVg(F*=K-IIrej)OSI2o8N_0=Xcki&+2ZDppHMes the right to adopt or have a child together. Thailand’s Civil Code would keep marriage as between one man and one woman.

Taiwan in May became the first country i(@R1KMlfaD8X_+7)-#iF!nQ83ImOU1cvmUaB7^Q)Oo*#dWu^Uxn Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.

The final draft of the bill was largely accepted by th1)nSKW(dzBtuUB#*H7)Fn_&*8+CyByDSzc)kP@uTe#!RJ$0K^we LGBTI community as a compromise.

It affords the majority of rights available to opposite-sex couples. In a rgzTUsw0aXXs3dCMy(7qQv0txDiI01p&B)=RmatDapn_*WIE2IEeferendum in November last year, about 70% of voters said they preferred a separate law to give same-sex couples rights rather than a change in the Civil Code.

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