APSN | Hundreds in Nepal march to support gay rights

Home > South-Asia >> Nepal

Hundreds in Nepal march to support gay rights

Associated Press - August 3, 2012

Humanitarian fallout from Nepal's constitutional stalemate - IRIN. June 29, 2012
Nepal's woes deepen as ruling Maoist party splits - Agence France Presse. June 19, 2012
Nepal faces power vacuum over constitution deadlock - Associated Press. May 28, 2012
Protests cripple Nepal as peace deadline looms - Agence France Presse. May 11, 2012
Nepal to form national unity government - Agence France Presse. May 3, 2012

Pokhara, Nepal – Hundreds of gay, lesbian and transgender people marched in a Nepal town to demand recognition as a third gender in citizen certificates, to allow same-sex marriage and to support criminalizing discrimination based on sexual preference.

Most of them were dressed colorfully, laden with beads and other jewelry, and they danced to Bollywood music played over loudspeakers. They marched on Friday for about three kilometers though the center of Pokhara, a resort town 200 kilometers west of the capital, Katmandu.

Nepal's government is in the process of issuing citizenship certificates for those who identify themselves as a third gender. But activists demand that Nepal's yet-to-be-written new constitution recognize their rights and call for criminal punishment for any form of discrimination against them.