Queering parenthood and family representation in Thai queer cinema from 2010 to 2020

This article examines the evolving representation of queer/same-sex parenthood and family in Thai queer cinema from 2010 to 2020. In one sense, the films discussed here introduce more affirming and nuanced portrayals, reflecting shifting societal attitudes and an increasing recognition of diverse parenting and family structures. Despite this, however, they continue to reinforce heteronormative stereotypes and societal anxieties, portraying queer parenthood through themes of shame, guilt, self-hatred, oppression, rejection by children, distorted gender and sexual identities, and diminished parental roles. Thai queer films that explicitly centre on queer parenthood and family, such as Insects in the Backyard (2010), the very first Thai film to foreground these issues, It Gets Better (2012), Father and Son (2015) and Fathers (2016), often depict the challenges and failures in establishing alternative families, particularly in relation to male-to-female trans narratives. Cisgender gay fathers, however, are represented in these films in a more hopeful light, albeit still conditioned by the acknowledgment that their same-sex identity and desire may lead to their children's struggles. These films highlight the persistent privileging of cisgender male queer over trans parenthood within the Thai queer mediascape.