Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok

Nawarat “Grace” Techarathanaprasert: "We’re no different than others."

Actor who was the first trans man to wear the male graduation gown for the ceremony at Chulalongkorn

Friday June 21 2019

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You might have heard or known Nawarat “Grace” Techarathanaprasert, the young short-haired actor and Sahamongkol Film heir who’s appeared in several movies, including Beautiful Wonderful Perfect (2005) and A Bite of Love (2006). His name was relatively unheard of for a few years after these films came out, and only resurfaced in 2017 the internet, when Grace posted a picture on Instagram thanking Chulalongkorn University, Thailand's oldest univrtsity, for letting him wear the male graduation gown to his commencement ceremony.

Grace was the first trans man to wear the male graduation gown for the ceremony at Chulalongkorn. He knew the process had been done before, but most of the cases were transgender women asking to wear a female gown. There was a chance and he took it. “To be honest, I didn't think that there may be others who wanted to do the same. I just felt like if I didn't do this, I wouldn't be ok with myself,” he explains. His action went viral and received positive feedback from both LGBTQ and heterosexuals.

"We’re no different than others."

Grace can see that there have some positive changes regarding LGBTQ in Thai, but he also realizes that the law and regulations to protect those in the community are not quite there yet. "In terms of regulation, I think we should have all the rights equal to other human beings, like in the same-sex marriage for instance, but I also understand that there are other issues in our country that are more problematic than this.”

He may be in the spotlight, but Grace is more focused on doing his best with what he does on a regular daily basis.“I wouldn't want to really emphasize on the issue. I feel like if I speak up or become an activist, I would be battling an enemy that doesn't even really exist,” he explains. “People’s opinions are wrong, but I think it would be easier if we could just make them understand the issues of the LGBTQ. I don't really want to talk about it that much since I don't see it as a flaw or anything. We’re no different than others.”