Nepal Vaults Ahead of U.S. in LGBT Rights in Historic Court Ruling

The Nepali Supreme Court issued a ruling today granting protections and rights for sexual and gender minorities. Four gay rights groups reportedly filed petitions through the court and it ruled today.

UK Gay News via the Victory Fund, here are the decision's main points:

"In relation to this matter, directive order has been issued to the Government of Nepal to enact new laws and amend all existing discriminatory laws so that all individuals with different sexual orientations and gender identities can exercise equal rights like any other citizens of Nepal."

"A seven-member committee to be formed by the government of Nepal to study the different same sex partnership/marriage bill/act in other countries and recommend the government to make same sex marriage/partnership act. Based on the recommendation of this committee, the government must introduce a same sex partnership/marriage act."

"The decision also addressed 'cross dressing saying can’t be taken as 'pollution' but should be taken as individual’s freedom of expression."

"All LGBTI must be defined as 'natural persons' and their physical growth as well as sexual orientation, gender identity, expression are all part of natural growing process. Thus equal rights, identity and expression must be ensured regardless of their sex at birth."

Sunil Pant, the founder of Nepal's gay activist group Blue Diamond Society, who was recently sworn in as the country's first openly gay member of Parliament, said "Reading this decision my eyes were filled with tears and I felt we are the most proud LGBTI citizens of Nepal in the world. It is the most beautiful news."

Pant will appear in Washington D.C. at the 2008 International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference.

Tears of Joy for Nepali Gays, Transgender Persons over Supreme Court Decision [uk gay news]

Nepal's 'Page 6' Tabloid Serves as Covert LGBT Newsletter

Sunil Pant, who recently became Nepal's first gay parliament member and heads up the country's gay activist Blue Diamond Society, last year launched the country's first LGBT newsletter, in the guise of a celebrity tabloid.

Fridae reports: "Nepali English language newspapers love Hollywood celebrity gossip. They regularly cover hot news about Britney and Madonna. Lesson number one: this is how you sell newspapers in Nepal. The second lesson was world famous in countries with strong ties to Britain. Go to www.page3.com and you will see photos of lovely ladies, too naked to appear in Singapore’s Straits Times, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post or Nepali newspapers. The photos, on the notorious PAGE 3, made The Sun, a London tabloid, one of the most profitable newspapers on the planet. Learning these lessons, Subash Pokharel, working with the Blue Diamond Society, started a new English-language weekly entertainment tabloid for Nepal. It’s called PAGE 6...The first issue was launched in August, 2007."

Here's the smart part: "Embedded in PAGE 6 is page 4, the page dedicated to 'gender talk' and 'diversity' – a weekly dose of LGBTI news and comment. PAGE 6 gets page 4 across to a broad Nepali audience. In the year that PAGE 6 has been published, all the covers have been pop celebrities – except for one. When the BDS won a major court case in December, 2007, that story went on the cover. Circulation did not drop. The next week sexy celebrities returned to page one."

A sexy first in Nepal [fridae]
(via queerty)

First Gay Parliament Member Sunil Pant Takes Oath in Nepal

At the beginning of May, I mentioned that the founder of Nepal's gay activist group the Blue Diamond Society, Sunil Pant, became the first openly gay politician to be elected to parliament in that country.

Here's a photo of Pant before the oath ceremony, which took place yesterday. The nation is set to become a republic today, the BBC reports:

"As the assembly was being inaugurated a bomb explosion in the capital injured two people. The assembly is huge and the ceremony saw 575 men and women being sworn-in, many in traditional clothing. The ceremony was performed by an older member of the newly-elected body...Nepal stands on the brink of huge change...The assembly has been given the initial task of rubber-stamping the abolition of the monarchy, a move which is due on Wednesday. Reports said King Gyanendra and Queen Komal were seen driving out of the royal palace during the afternoon, but it was not clear where they were going or for how long they would be gone. Senior politicians have urged the monarch to leave the palace peacefully, but some have said force might be used if that does not happen. Exactly how a republic will be voted in on Wednesday is still not clear."

Previously
Sunil Pant Becomes First Gay Parliament Member in Nepal [tr]
AIDS Patients Evicted from Nepal Hospice Over Anti-Gay Bias [tr]
Five Gay Men in Symbolic Run for Office in Nepal [tr]

Sunil Pant Becomes First Gay Parliament Member in Nepal

Sunil Pant, who heads Nepal's gay activist group the Blue Diamond Society, became the first openly gay politician to be elected to parliament in that country, the Times of India reports. There were several gay men running in the nation's first vote since 1999. They were all funded by the Nepal Communist Party (United), a junior partner in the ruling alliance:

"Sunil Babu Pant, a 35-year-old crusader for gay rights who founded the first organisation to protect the rights of the sexual minorities and ushered in a social revolution, now becomes part of Nepal's political history as well after being chosen by a minor communist party to represent it in the 601-member constituent assembly. 'We are honoured to send Pant as our representative to the constituent assembly,' said Ganesh Shah of Communist Party, who’s Communist Party of Nepal-United (CPN-U) has won five seats in the assembly under the proportional representation system. 'We hope it will improve the lives of a people who are the most repressed in Nepal, disowned both by society and their own families,' he added. Pant, a computer engineer from Belarus, founded the Blue Diamond Society in 2002. It is now one of the best known gay rights groups in South Asia, fighting for molested and detained gays, spreads HIV/AIDS awareness, runs a hospice for terminally ill gay patients and provides training and jobs to members of the community."

Said Pant: "Representing a sexual minority I will make sure the new constitution protects sexual groups, people with disabilities, small indigenous castes and others."

Recently
AIDS Patients Evicted from Nepal Hospice Over Anti-Gay Bias [tr]
Five Gay Men in Symbolic Run for Office in Nepal [tr]

Five Gay Men in Symbolic Run for Office in Nepal

Sunil Pant (pictured), the Kathmandu-based founder of Nepal's leading gay rights group the Blue Diamond Society, is running along with four other gay men in a public election for one of 601 seats in a new constituent assembly in the nation's first vote since 1999. It takes place on April 10.

Pant and the other gay men say they hope to "shatter taboos" in the nation. Said Pant: "It is a prejudiced society. We are standing in the elections to fight the discrimination against our community. This is a very symbolic approach to tell all Nepalis that we have equal rights. I feel sad and we feel excluded. As human beings we all like to be loved and respected. We are deprived of the opportunity to contribute to our society and nation."

According to Reuters, "The five candidates have been fielded by the Nepal Communist Party (United), a junior partner in the ruling alliance. There are already signs the taboo may be beginning to lose its grip. In December, the Supreme Court ordered the government to end discrimination against gays and guarantee sexual minorities the same rights as other citizens. Pant feels he has a good chance of winning, saying there are hundreds of thousands of gay and transgender voters across the country to whom he will appeal."

Nepali gay men contesting poll hope to end taboo [reuters]

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