Last month, the Thai government supported a bill that would make Thailand the first Asian jurisdiction to allow same-sex civil partnerships (“Thai government approves same-sex civil unions”, December 25). It is significant progress in the battle for sexual equality in Asia, in contrast to the failed referendum on gay marriage in Taiwan. Success for the gay rights cause in Thailand lies in, as the old Chinese formula goes, 天時地利人和 (tian shi di li ren he), or the “right time, the right place, the right people”. The right time: Asia has become more open-minded with regard to LGBT culture, as evident from increasing media productions featuring sexual minorities. The past few years in Thailand have seen a number of local movies and TV dramas portraying homosexuals and transgender people, which received worldwide exposure through web platforms such as Line TV and YouTube.