AP PHOTOS: As Thailand approves same-sex marriage, a couple celebrates feeling freed

BANGKOK (AP) — Kunchanok Khantiphong and Edward Jonathan Caiga were at work when Thailand's Senate voted to allow same-sex marriages on a June afternoon.

At home that evening, the couple celebrated over hopeful conversations of how their lives would change. Marriage and building a family were important to both of them. Now it could become a reality.

Thailand's landmark marriage equality bill was officially written into law on Tuesday, after it was endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn. LGBTQ+ couples will be able to register marriages from January, making Thailand the third place in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, to allow same-sex marriage.

Caiga, who came to Thailand from the Philippines 17 years ago, said he's feeling more secure and confident knowing that he'll be able to live in his adopted home permanently, and to adopt a child or buy a home with his partner.

Displaying a tattoo that reads “Freed” across his right arm, Caiga says it is meant to express being freed from the negative perceptions of other people, whether it is about race, culture and diversity.

“This law will help enforce further the fundamental necessities, which is fair to have for everyone who wants to spend the rest of their lives with the people they love,” he said.

Kunchanok, 27, and Caiga, 42, say they plan to get married once the law goes into effect.

Thailand has a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity, but has struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law. Thai society has broadly conservative values, and members of the LGBTQ+ community say they face discrimination in everyday life.

The government led by the Pheu Thai party has made marriage equality one of its main goals. It had a major presence at the annual Bangkok Pride parade in June, in which thousands of people celebrated in one of Bangkok’s busiest commercial districts.

Kunchanok said the law was a milestone in a country where it used to be very hard to love someone from the same gender.

“After this law, we can be a whole package with each other. A real couple. A legal couple. I’ll be able to take care of him because he’s alone here,” he said.

On a clear Saturday morning, the couple rode their bikes to a nearby park to feed the birds and fish. Later, they had a video call with Edward’s family in the Philippines.

“Thailand is now what I call home,” Edward said.

Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, front left, and Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, front right, raise a toast with their friends at the Banpuku Yokocho restaurant, where they had their first date, in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A hand drawn postcard made by Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, for his partner Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, is seen on a pin board at their home in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, watches his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, put stickers on his computer at home in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, left, blow dries the hair of his partner Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, left, and his partner Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, watch television at home in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Kunchanok khantiphong, 27, lifts dumbbells watched by his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Kunchanok khantiphong, 27, right, and his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, eat lunch at home in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, displays a tattoo on his arm in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, July 14, 2024, (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Kunchanok khantiphong, 27, right, and his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga ,42, cook a meal at home in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Kunchanok khantiphong, 27, left, and his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42 play with pigeons at Nong Bon Lake Park in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Kunchanok khantiphong, 27, speaks with a family member of his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Kunchanok khantiphong, 27, left, and his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, leave after feeding the fish at Nong Bon Lake park in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, and his Filipino partner Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, left, feed bread to fish at Nong Bon Lake park in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Edward Jonathan Caiga, 42, left, and his partner Kunchanok Khantiphong, 27, ride a bicycle at Nong Bon Lake Park in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The leader of a nonprofit representing the Haitian community invoked a private-citizen right to file charges Tuesday against former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, over the chaos and threats experienced by Springfield, Ohio, since Trump first spread false claims about legal immigrants there during a presidential debate.

The Haitian Bridge Alliance made the move after inaction by the local prosecutor, said their attorney, Subodh Chandra of the Cleveland-based Chandra Law Firm.

Charges brought by private citizens are rare, but not unheard of, in Ohio. Examples might be a grocery store charging a customer for a bounced check. State law requires a hearing to take place before the affidavit can move forward. As of Tuesday afternoon, none had been scheduled.

Trump and Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio, are charged with disrupting public services, making false alarms, telecommunications harassment, aggravated menacing and complicity. The filing asks the Clark County Municipal Court to affirm that there is probable cause and issue arrest warrants against Trump and Vance.

“Their persistence and relentlessness, even in the face of the governor and the mayor saying this is false, that shows intent,” Chandra said. “It's knowing, willful flouting of criminal law.”

Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump-Vance campaign, said, “President Trump is rightfully highlighting the failed immigration system that (Vice President) Kamala Harris has overseen, bringing thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into communities like Springfield and many others across the country.”

The 15,000 to 20,000 Haitian immigrants who have arrived in Springfield over the past several years, in many cases after being recruited to local jobs, have been granted Temporary Protected Status to be in the U.S. legally.

More than 30 bomb threats were directed at state and local government buildings and schools, prompting closures, the assignment of additional law enforcement protection and security cameras. Some of the city's Haitian residents have also said they feared for their safety as public vitriol grew, and Mayor Rob Rue has received death threats.

“If it were anyone else other than Trump and Vance who had done what they’ve done — wreak havoc on Springfield, resulting in bomb threats, evacuated and closed government buildings and schools, threats to the mayor and his family — they would have been arrested by now,” Chandra said. “They are not above the law.”

FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, attend the 9/11 Memorial ceremony on the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)