SignOnSanDiego.com – Reuters
Bangkok ? Writers of Thailand’s post-coup constitution agreed on Friday to give gay, lesbian, transgender and transvestite groups official status in the new charter to try to end discrimination.
Along with a guarantee of equal rights for men and women, the 100-member drafting council voted unanimously to include a reference to ‘those of other sexual identities’ in the new charter, due to be put to Thailand’s first referendum in August.
‘This council has already guaranteed equal rights for the disabled, so why can’t we give the same treatment to those who have sexual preferences,’ said charter write Chirmsak Pinthong, who sponsored the idea.
Earlier this month, the council rejected a proposal to guarantee the rights of those with various sexual orientations, saying it would create a legal status of a ‘third sex’.