CAMBODIA - Feb 21, 2004
Upon watching televised news reports about thousands of gay and lesbian couples becoming officially wed in San Francisco, Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk, said on Friday that homosexuals should be allowed to marry.King Sihanouk stated that Cambodia became a liberal democracy in 1993 and therefore it should allow same sex couples to register their unions. The King, while only a constitutional monarch without executive power in the current government, continues to hold moral authority in Cambodia and is highly respected by its people. He also said that transvestites and transexuals, who are much less visible in Cambodian society than in neighboring Thailand, should be better-accepted in Cambodian society as they currently suffer from discrimination and misunderstanding. |
