When laws are not enough

It makes me feel good to see the many transgender TV hosts nowadays – it means modern Thailand is more acquainted with sexual diversity. But problems linger in the meantime.
LGBTs in both Thailand and the US have had much good and bad news lately.
The biggest good news included New York State’s endorsement of same-sex marriage, the US military’s cancellation of its “Don’t ask don’t tell” policy, and the removal of the word “psycho” from the Sor Dor 43 form that the Thai military gives transgender recruits.
It’s possible that Thailand will also approve of same-sex marriages in coming years.
The bad news was sad news: A 14-year-old gay boy in Buffalo, New York, committed suicide after continuous bullying at school. A Thai groom cancelled his wedding after learning that his bride was katoey.
On one hand, social attitudes are clearly struggling to keep up with changes in legislation.
We need laws to protect us against prejudice and discrimination and punish those who hate, but they can’t erase the hatred in some people’s hearts.
America is well legislated to protect gay rights, and yet hate crimes still happen there. The punishment mandated for offenders doesn’t replace what’s lost. And meanwhile anti-gay activists revile the laws guaranteeing rights and equality for homosexuals – and become even more hateful.
In Thailand the contrast between pro-gay and anti-gay is not so obvious.
Having more transgender people on television is no guarantee of equal rights. Sometimes I think it’s just an illusion that fools us into believing we have a place in Thai society, which is absolutely not true when you consider the social structure.
The government and the TV shows’ producers can prohibit gays anytime they want. Labour laws would compensate them, but these aren’t human-rights laws. There is no protection for gay rights.
In my university dorm I knew all the transgender students, already dressing as women and pursuing women’s lifestyles.
My roommate and I were both gay, so we had no problem living together, but my transgender friends paired with straight guys faced many problems – or at least the straight roommates did, always feeling uncomfortable. They didn’t hate their roommates, but they spent most of their time in straight friends’ rooms.
The university shrugged it off, saying students could always live off campus, but not every student could afford that. The university respected a student’s right to dress as a woman but lacked the gender sensitivity to see the harm being done within the dorm.
Human-rights protection is truly important, of course, but alone it’s not enough. Society needs to be educated about sexual diversity to be finally rid of overt prejudice and the hatred that lingers in the subconscious.