Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing marriage equality here in Thailand. As we've discussed this, I've been talking about this for years, probably over a decade actually, maybe even going back like 12, 13, 14, 15 years. I was talking about it specifically in the context of the United States. I've always been a big proponent of same-sex marriage in terms of, look this may be what some would call the libertarian in me, I just think I'm a person that likes being free and being independent. Look, if people fall in love with somebody and they want to marry them, I really don't care what their persuasion is, I don't care at all, I really don't care. If two people want to get married, more power to them, congratulations to you. Very good for you. As we'll get into here, marriage equality is one thing, there are other issues at play.

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Marriage Equality Bill poised for final push. Quoting directly: "The Bill will open marriage to people of the same sex and give them marriage rights under the same conditions as heterosexual couples." First off, we've been hearing about this for years now. It's always come very close and then something happens and it doesn't go through. So I'm saying stay cautiously optimistic if this is an issue close to your heart because you could be disappointed again, basically is what I'm saying. I do think there is a good faith effort to push marriage equality through but I don't think, again I would say hold out in the back your mind for the possibility that it may be delayed or something or postponed and we may not see it right now or immediately. Quoting further, and this is what I really wanted to get in here. Again I am all in favour of marriage equality, I really am. You can look at my record; I've been talking about this for years. When you go back into my blogs, I was talking about Justice Jackson and the Mortar of Full Faith and Credit Clause in the United States and how that impacts the ability of same-sex marriage to occur in that jurisdiction. Again, I've been talking about this for years. Now quoting further: "They can also draw on other benefits including the right to adopt children, manage and inherit the assets of their spouses, the right to divorce, right to state welfare if their spouses are civil servants, and tax deductions. 

Now all of that I'm on board with. Again the notion, well almost all of it. "Manage and inherit the assets of their spouses", yes, absolutely. Marriage equality, I completely understand especially for folks in the same sex marriage. Right now it's a bad system for you. You have to go out of your way to try and rectify or reconcile or consolidate the rights that you need in order to confer things to your loved one in the event you should pass away and not having legal recognition of your union, can have serious ramifications, negative ramifications on that endeavour. And again, the "right to divorce, right to state welfare if their spouses or civil servants," again these are all basic things associated with marriage itself. 

One thing I don't necessarily think should just be conflated in with the issue of marriage equality is "the right to adopt children". First off, I think that's bad use of language there. Adoption is not a right. There's a reason for the strict scrutiny associated with those who are adopting children. Even a different sex couple doesn't have a right to adopt children. Meanwhile another sort of issue associated with this is look, children have a separate set of rights unto themselves. The equalization of the ability for adults to marry, doesn't play into that. This is kind of akin to notions we get when we are talking about prenuptial agreements. People will sometimes come to us, wanting us to draft a prenup and they'll say "oh yeah and I want you to put in a section that I'm only going to pay X amount in terms of Child Support should a divorce arise in the future”. Well that is not a valid section, that is not a valid component of a prenuptial agreement. Why? Because children have their own inherent independent rights and Judges in cases involving divorce may look at a prenuptial agreement and say “okay we're going to follow this for purposes of this divorce. We're going to follow the terms of this agreement during this marital dissolution”. Meanwhile, they will also say you don't have any right under the terms of your prenup to say anything with regard to the children. In the event of a divorce, it will be the Court that makes determinations regarding the welfare of the child; what's in the child's best interest. 

So the point of this video is to really drive it home that just because folks have the right to get married, does not necessarily mean that they have a right to adopt, as children have independent rights unto themselves.