Despite living in a predominantly Buddhist country, and contrary to the majority opinion among believers and the Buddhist hierarchy of his country, the Thai monk Shine Waradhammo has become a defender of the legalization of abortion and the rights of the LGBT community in Thailand. Dressed in the characteristic monk orange robe, the 50-year-old monk lives in a humble cell, in a temple in the north of the city of Bangkok, and 30 years ago when he was ordained a monk, his vision of life was completely different. “I had a negative view,” said Shine in a local media where he regularly writes about his affairs. Thanks to learning more about these topics, he has changed his mind and places a multi-coloured flag of the LGBT movement on a small Buddha statue. “I realized little by little that the issue of LGBT and abortion is related to gender discrimination (…), with prejudices imposed by society.”