NEPAL'S THIRD GENDER

By Natasha Rai
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The court of Nepal has given a favorable response to the petition filed by Blue diamond society (BDS) the LGBT organization in Nepal for the protection and rights for sexual and gender minorities. The court has also ruled that cross dressing should be taken as a freedom of expression and that all LGBT issues should be considered as natural phenomenon and that the court is open to look into the same sex partnership/marriage act. This makes me proud since even though Nepal is the only Hindu nation of the world with traditional and religious beliefs; it has proved to be open, sensitive and democratic to the individual sexual orientation of the people as compared to most of the developed nations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/world/asia/20pant.html?_r=2

httphttp://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/11/nepal-supreme-court-approves-same-sex.php

Having said that, let’s not forget the fight the LGBT community of Nepal had to go through for their rights and freedom. The only gay organization, Nepal Blue Diamond Society and its LGBT members established, expressed and celebrated the LGBT diversity through public forums, dances and parades in the last 5 years. It also fought its battle with the local police.

http://www.bds.org.np/

http://picasaweb.google.com/Roshan.Verghese/CelebratingDiversity

http://sheilaandroshan.blogspot.com/2007/08/its-gai-jatra-festival-again.html

http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/2005aug/2002.htm

The society also organized beauty pageants for Nepalese transgender and crowned first Miss T Nepal who represented the international transsexual pageant in Bangkok.

http://www.globalgayz.com/nepal-news07-08.html#article8

http://www.mysinchew.com/node/5242

It was international news, when BDS organized the openly gay marriage
in Kathmandu without any protest from the public.

The Transgender contesting for the local election was news that was widely accepted by the people in Nepal

http://sheilaandroshan.blogspot.com/2006/08/bold-and-beautiful.html

The head of BDS Mr Sunil Babu Pant is the only elected openly gay member of parliament of the region who has been nominated by the Maoist Government of Nepal.

We are proud of LGBT community of Nepal for its achievements in such a short term and we celebrate its victory and learn that with pride, expression and acceptance we can win any war!