Nepal Achieves Huge Win for LGBTQ+ Rights
The first same-gender marriage has been registered in Nepal, which is considered an incredible achievement for LGBTQ+ rights in the country.
The union of Maya Gurung and Surendra Pandey was formally registered on Wednesday, November 27 in the western Lumjung district of Nepal.
Ms Gurung, a transgender woman, told BBC that their marriage and wedding day was a huge success not just for the couple, but for all other sexual minorities. “The fight for rights is not easy. We have done it. And it will be easier for future generations,” she says. “The registration has opened doors to a lot of things for us.”
Ms Gurung and Mr Pandey have been together for almost a decade now, celebrating with their own marriage ceremony back in 2017 and seeking legal recognition of their marriage this year.
This union comes just five months after the Supreme Court issued an interim order allowing same-gender couples to register their marriages legally. Nepal has previously upheld several LGBTQ+ rights rulings, but has been quite slow to implement these new laws. In 2015, a historic breakthrough was made as the 2015 constitution prohibits gender discrimination and upholds the rights of sexual minorities.
Nepal’s previous civil code described marriage as being between a man and a woman, until Justice Til Pradad Shrestha ordered the Nepali government to immediately begin registering same-gender marriages while it prepared legislation to amend the law.
Currently, Taiwan is the only other place in Asia that has legalized same-sex marriage.
Leading LGBTQ+ rights activist Sunil Babu Pant called the “historic” moment a victory for sexual and gender minorities. “Now we can register our marriage as do the regular couples. But we still have to do more to get other rights,” he tells BBC.
This ruling is an incredible moment for equal rights in Nepal and paves the way for hundreds of other couples to register their marriages legally.
