Most-discussed LGBT issues in 2015 and what to look for in the year to come.
Gordon Lake and Manuel Santos with their daughter Carmen.
The Surrogate Saga
While many Thais may oppose the idea of LGBT people having kids, almost all can agree with one thing -- little Carmen should live with her two dads.
The ongoing case of gay couple Gordon Lake and Manuel Santos, and Thai surrogate Patidta Kusonsrang was widely discussed for a good part of this year.
Carmen, who is now 11-months-old, was born through surrogacy with Lake's sperm and another woman's egg. But complications began when the surrogate mother wanted to keep the baby. Lake had no parental rights because even though Carmen was born from his sperm, a Thai law (now revised) granted custody of a child to its birth mother, regardless of biological ties. Lake has been in Thailand for almost a year now, fighting to get his daughter back.
The new Protection for Children Born through Assisted Reproductive Technologies Act or the "surrogacy law", put into effect in July, has become Lake's only hope because with the new law, couples that seek surrogacy are the legal parents of the child, not the surrogate mother. The new act still, however, outlaws surrogacy for commercial purposes.
Until this point, it's still unclear how everything will turn out. After the first hearing in October, all parties are due back at court in March 2016, and we hope that it'll be the last time Lake and Santos have to present their case to the Thai authorities. It's high time we change the hashtag #bringcarmenhome to #carmenishome.
A scene from How To Win At Checkers (Every Time).
Flares of the silver screen
As director Tanwarin Sukkhapisit once said, this is indeed a good year for gay films. Over the course of 2015, LGBT flicks -- low-budget, high-profile, local and international -- took turn parading through our cinemas. One notable mention from Thailand would be the South Korean-directed How To Win At Checkers (Every Time), which scored Thailand's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at next year's Oscar.
Tanwarin's own Insects In The Backyard is getting hopeful signs that its five-year ban could finally be lifted. The controversial trans film was banned from showing in Thailand due to scenes depicting sex, nudity and prostitution -- all the things that are against Thai conservative culture. It'll corrupt the minds, they said. But all of us already know where to look for those things, anyway.
The recently-announced Golden Globes nominations saw Todd Haynes' lesbian drama Carol get a nod. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara who play the lead characters are both nominated for best actress. Another LGBT film, The Danish Girl, also has both its leading cast members on the list. We are rooting for Eddie Redmayne who plays transwoman Lili Elbe to nab best actor award.
A scene from Hormones 3 The Final Season.
Teen drama of our time
Over to the smaller screen, Thai TV series have not proven to be progressive in their portrayal of the non-straight crowd -- one notable example being the popular Hormones 3 The Final Season. While the show has featured gay, lesbian and bisexual characters in previous seasons, it's the first time the LGBT spectrum has reached to cover adulthood. Gay dads finally find a place in this series and on our screens. To have such a subplot on such a popular show has resulted in the increasing exposure of a queer family to younger generations. True, we still find ignorantly insulting comments online. We consider this progress, nonetheless, and hope Thai showbiz will continue to give space for LGBT characters to be more than just jokesters fishing for easy, thoughtless laughs.
Law and no order
Aside from the introduction of the Tangerine Community Health Centre -- a clinic that aims to provide services for transmen and transwomen -- there is minimal change and improvement this year in the trans world.
While model Sarina Thai was banned from a pub, teacher and activist Kath Khangpiboon was banned from lecturing at Thammasat University. No one is really spared from gender inequality, whether their place is on the fashion runway or at a lecture podium.
Students may fare just a little better. Chulalongkorn University -- Thailand's oldest university -- has allowed its first trans student to wear a graduation uniform according to the student's gender identity. Many universities now allow the same. But, underneath the beautiful facade, some universities insisted that their students must seek a psychologist's diagnosis that they're "not normal" to wear their chosen uniforms.
We may have a gender equality bill in effect now, but only time will tell if this bill will be a progressive moment for our nation, or just another piece of paper to waste away our trees.
Caitlyn Jenner.
Hello from the other side
Very few people could have missed how former athlete and Hollywood figure Bruce Jenner morphed into Caitlyn. While many applauded her courage in coming out, others are still apprehensive why we should call this person a heroine. Jenner was involved in a car crash that got someone killed. Still, she walked free from court due to insufficient evidence, leaving netizens to speculate on abuse of celebrity status and money. Can she be the face of the trans community? Coupled with her stance on gay marriage, many doubt it.
For something else worth celebrating, the US Supreme Court has legalised same-sex marriage across its country. Facebook responded to this historical move with a rainbow pride filter on its users' profile picture. And, just last month, Japan has started issuing partnership certificates to same-sex couples to encourage social recognition. It's good to see improvement happening around the globe.
And we hope, some day, the world can celebrate with us should we ever pass a civil partnership bill or same-sex marriage legislation on our shores.
The LGBT community celebrated the US Supreme Court's decision to legalise same-sex marriage at the annual pride parade in Chicago.
A voice from the crowd
Research on how gender diversity is represented in Thai media was recently conducted by Kangwan Fongkaew, lecturer at the department of communication arts, Burapha University, and his team -- with support from the United Nations Development Programme. What the research team found wasn't too startling. Headlines and content of LGBT-related news in Thailand are littered with degrading words that are used to describe gays, lesbians and transgenders.
"Some people still perceive LGBTs as a lower class of human being. This is why bullying, prejudice and selective treatment continue to have a place in our country," Kangwan said, adding that this demoralising practice in Thai media is something that should already be over in 2015.
The US Supreme Court's same-sex marriage legalisation, to Kangwan, is the highlight of this year's LGBT rights movement. In Thailand, he said people are quite open and accepting, too, but it's merely on the surface.
"We can have ceremonies [like weddings], but don't ask for equal rights or law changes. They often say, 'We've already given you this much. What more could you want?'. Our country is smooth, really, utilising our own culture to suppress us. They don't go for extreme measures. We can't retaliate. Then, they'd just preach to us about karma."
Kangwan doesn't foresee anything will change much in 2016 -- whether it's about civil unions, a change in title for nonbinary people, surrogacy or uniforms. While he appreciates all parties' efforts in organising many activity-based events to advocate for equal rights, he rather views this current approach only leads to temporary awareness by society.
Once the rainbow light is switched off, people revert to their old path. Their awareness is only fleeting.
"To go forward, our movement should be more education-based. We need more research, as well as a change in our educational curriculum in order to make people understand. This is not to say we should forsake our other events. But we have to improve both education and activity concurrently to be more sustainable towards a long-lasting change.
"In advocating for LGBT causes, sometimes, I feel as though we're marginalising ourselves," he continued. "But, still, we will fight until the day comes when we don't have to fight any more."
