Nepal: LGBT community march for greater rights

Aug 22 2013
Written by Daniel Carter

Yesterday, over a thousand LGBT campaigners marched through Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, to demand more rights and greater recognition from the country.

It is the fourth march of its kind to take place with organisers pushing for greater recognition of sexual minorities in the country.

Events organiser, Bhumika Shrestha called on the Government to do more to enhance LGBT rights in the country and said, “this is the day when we gay people are able to come out in the open without any fear or shame to celebrate with our community.”

Homosexuality was legalised in Nepal in 2007 after the fall of the Monarchy and the Supreme Court has ordered that same-sex relationships be recognised but this is yet to take affect.

However, despite having an openly gay MP, Nepal is still a conservative country and discrimination is still a problem in Nepalese society, one attendee of the march said: “We are here to appeal to the general public so they stop all types of discrimination against us.”

Earlier this year the government of Nepal began issuing third gender citizenship documents after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of gender neutral documentation.

Last year Nepal hosted the country’s first LGBT Games for gay people, becoming the first country in Asia to host such an event.