LGBTQ rights activists and the team behind Naruemit Pride announced yesterday that they will be organizing a major Pride festival on Valentine’s Day in 2023, calling for marriage equality and right to found a family.
At the launch at the Sukosol Hotel in Bangkok, the group announced that Naruemit Vivah, a Pride festival to be held on 14 February 2023 at the Thai-Japan Bangkok Youth Center, will feature music and art exhibitions.
At the launch, several activists came on stage to speak about the LGBTQ rights movement in Thailand, from marriage equality to legal gender recognition and the right of LGBTQ students to live according to their identities. The activists also called on parliament to pass the Marriage Equality bill, currently being considered by a drafting committee.
Representing the Naruemit Pride team, academic and activist Anticha Sangchai announced that they will be holding wedding ceremonies for over 100 LGBTQ couples during the 2023 festival. She then called for marriage equality, which she said is what the LGBTQ community deserves.
Anticha Sangchai announcing the launch of Naruemit Vivah while standing before a photo of her and her wife during their wedding
Following the 5 June 2022 Pride parade in Bangkok, photos of Anticha and her wife went viral on the internet after they decided to walk the parade in wedding dresses and the organisers surprised them with a wedding ceremony during the parade. Anticha said she felt honoured and wanted to pass on the feeling to other LGBTQ couples.
“The love between my wife and I is true already, but that day, Naruemit Pride gave me a very important experience,” she said.
“Our love is not a private matter. Our love is ready to be passed onto others and ready to inspire and give hope to others as well.”
