Thai filmmaker Tanwarin Sukkhapisit has made history this week, becoming the first transgender MP elected in Thailand.
Sukkhapisit, whose previous film Insects in the Backyard was banned locally for being "against public morals", ran as a candidate with the newly formed Future Forward Party.
Her experience with film censorship, which made her feel "like a terrorist", soon became her motivation to move into politics and become an agitator for change.
"I want to be a person who represents the minority people in Thailand because for me - LGBT people - we have not the right to marry in a same-sex marriage," she told Voice of America. "Legally, by law, we cannot adopt children.”
Speaking to the Bangkok Post, Tanwarin made it clear that she wanted to fight for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Thailand.
Referring to her political ambitions, she said: “We hope to amend it [section 1448 of the Civil and Commercial Code] to say any two persons can be married.
"If this can be fixed, it would remove a barrier and open the doors to many other things.”
Taking to social media following her election, Sukkhapisit wrote: “Thank you for the hope of everyone who believes that we still want a new, good future together."
She added: "Thank you from this little bisexual heart.”
