‘He said Yes!’: Thai woman takes a knee for gender equality

In a white pantsuit and a bridal veil, Piyaporn Yibmantasiri went down on one knee this past weekend to propose to long-time boyfriend Tanawat Chawigoon. He said yes. 

Piyaporn could not wait to share the moment with the social media world this week with hashtags #LetsMakeTheFirstMove #WomenCanAlsoChoose and #GenderEquality. On Facebook alone, her post went viral with more than 12,000 shares and an overwhelmingly positive response.

“It’s a small step, yet very important,” Piyaporn said. “In terms of building a family together, this shows that we do not need to define that something is a duty of a man or a woman. Instead, we should start a family on the basis of gender equality and mutual respect.”

The “job” of proposing doesn’t necessarily have to belong to men, agreed Wannida Kasiwong, founder of Wonders & Weddings, which describes itself as a…