Congratulations are in order once again to the internationally renowned Vitit Muntarbhorn. The human rights expert has been appointed as the first independent United Nations expert charged with investigating abuse of people worldwide simply because of sexual orientation and gender identity. He has a lot of work ahead of him. It is no secret that nations around the world abuse the LGBT community. As a tribute and mark of respect for Mr Vitit's appointment, Thailand should bring its antiquated and sometimes abusive laws up to date.
Professor Vitit is a model human rights investigator. In previous UN roles, he displayed an honest and refreshing ability to get to the heart of abuses, and then to thoroughly address them. By properly eschewing the worn-out and ultimately useless "diplomatic approach", Prof Vitit uncovered shocking abuses in Syria and North Korea, and also brought to light the subject of child prostitution.
In late 2006, Prof Vitit chaired an international seminar at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The meeting was tasked with identifying the legal obligations of all UN members to ensure that full human rights are applied in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity. Of course, the simple answer is "all of them". If only the issue were actually simple.
We can take Thailand as an example of a nation that simply does not apply full human rights to everyone. While the country is known worldwide as "gay friendly", that is because of the public attitude, welcoming manners and traditional tolerance. One need not be a UN investigator to quickly discover that LGBT people in Thailand face legal barriers that are simply unknown to the so-called straight community.
Start with gender identity. The government's long-standing claim is that Thailand meets human rights obligation by allowing every Thai to keep the gender declared at birth for a lifetime -- on ID cards and passports, on government forms and financial status. In fact, this is massive disrespect and huge personal inconvenience for any person misidentified at birth or, far more common, any person changing identity after adulthood. Even a person who undergoes sex-change surgery must, by law, continue to identify as the opposite gender.
The government has also refused to update to current practice on couples. It recognises neither same-sex marriages -- bans them, in effect -- or even civil partnerships. For example, a surviving partner in a "legal" marriage is entitled to many inheritance rights, but a person in a same-sex relationship is not. This is an obvious violation of the Yogyakarta Principles, which logically and correctly call for equal treatment of all people, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.
It is not nearly enough to point out that there are countries far worse than Thailand on this issue. In effect, such a claim means Thailand can be proud that it never executes gay people. It means Thailand should brag that it does not torture or imprison same-sex couples who live together. This is patently wrong. It is as absurd as the conservative, religion-based belief that homosexuality is a sin worthy of punishment. Educated society is far beyond that in its understanding of sexual and gender motivation.
Prof Vitit will no doubt be deeply involved in the complex and cross-border issue of human rights. At its core, however, there is one solution. All laws of all nations must recognise the human rights of all people.
Thais may be relatively tolerant to the local and worldwide LGBT community. Prof Vitit's appointment is a strong reminder that work remains to be done on the legal and social levels before all Thais have full human rights.
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