To commemorate , the World Bank partnered with to create a series of inspiring stories to acknowledge, honor, and celebrate the families and relationships that LGBTI people have, created, or chosen, in all their diversity, in Thailand.
“When I had a girlfriend, I had to hide it from my family. I could not tell my parents that this is someone I love. I just told them that she’s my best friend. With these constraints, I felt that I couldn’t express my identity and live life to the fullest. Deep down, I must’ve been afraid of not being accepted by my family. So I confronted my fears by channeling all my energy into work as an LGBT activist. By doing this, I felt more accepted by society. The unhappiness that resulted from family stress just went away. Even though I have not officially told my parents, I figure that they probably already know and I think it's OK if they found out through this interview.”
“Today, being lesbian or bisexual is no longer a challenge for me. The challenge now is that I want to have children while doing advocacy work, to have a family without being in this set structure of man and woman. I don’t want my children to be born and deal with the pain that I’ve gone through. That’s why I work very hard to advocate for recognition that diverse families do exist, and people can live with diverse families. It’s society that makes lives difficult for members of diverse families.”
