태국 헌법 기초위. 성소수자에도 동등한 권리를 주어야한다고 결정. 국민투표 절차 남아.
(더글라스 샌더스 교수)

THAI CONSTITUTION TO PROTECT GAYS

Douglas Sanders, July 1, 2007.

The Thai government's Constitutional Drafting Assembly (CDA) adopted language to ensure equal rights for gays, lesbians and transgendered people on Friday, June 29th.  The draft constitution expressly refers to people of "other sexual identities," which activists involved in the process said was understood to include transgendered kathoey as well as gay men and lesbians.

If the draft constitution comes into force later in the year, it will be the fourth constitution in the world to include express protection for LGBT individuals in a countries basic law.  South Africa, Fiji, Portugal and Ecuador each have such provisions, though the Fiji constitution is currently suspended.  Other countries have general equality provisions in their constitutions which have been interpreted to protect gays and lesbians.

Prominent in the work were pioneer activists Natee Theerarojnapong and Anjana Suvarnananda.  Anjana, better known as Tang, heading the Anjaree lesbian group, worked closely with the National Human Rights Commission, prompting the Commission to include LGBT rights in its submission to the CDA.

Since its creation under provisions of the progressive 1997 Constitution, the National Human Rights Commission has consistently worked on LGBT issues, though with little public recognition.

Recognition of LGBT rights has become more visible in Thailand because of recent cases.  One involved a challenge to the Thai military for classifying kathoey as suffering from permanent mental problems.  The well-publicized case was backed by the National Human Rights Commission, and is now before the Administrative Court.

A current case involves a campaign against Novotel Hotel for allegedly refusing admission to a nightclub to a kathoey.  The Bangkok Rainbow organization has taken up the campaign, and it featured in the newspapers in the days before the final CDA debate.

The current Thai government was installed by the military after a coup in September, 2006.  The CDA is in the final days of completing the draft constitution.  The document is to be put to a national referendum, probably in August, to be followed by elections now expected in November or December of early 2008.

* 차돌바우님에 의해서 게시물 복사되었습니다 (2008-10-20 11:32)