KATHMANDU, November 17, 2008 – There were tears of joy in the Nepali LGBT community today when the Supreme Court published its full written decision on a petition demanding both protection and rights for sexual and gender minorities.
“Reading this decision my eyes were filled with tears and I felt we are the most proud LGBTI citizens of Nepal in the world,” admitted Nepal’s only openly gay Member of Parliament Sunil Babu Pant, who heads the country’s Blue Diamond Society.
“It is the most beautiful news,” he added.
The petition was filed by the Blue Diamond Society and three other LGBTI groups in Nepal.
The Nepali Supreme Court is translating its decision into English, but highlights from the published Nepali decision are (unofficial translation):
■ 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. Read more via UK Gay News
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE GETS COURT NOD IN NEPAL
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE GETS COURT NOD IN NEPAL. (2008, Nov 18). The Hindustan Times
Report from Indo-Asian News Service brought to you by HT Syndication.
Kathmandu, Nov. 18 -- (IANS) Close on the heels of an international furore over the state of California's decision to ban same-sex marriages, the apex court of nascent Himalayan republic Nepal has given its nod to such unions.
"My eyes were filled with tears when I read the Supreme Court decision," said Sunil Babu Pant, Nepal's first publicly gay lawmaker and a gay rights icon in South Asia.
"We, the gay community of Nepal, are the most proud citizens."
Pant's exultation came after the Supreme Court Monday delivered full judgement regarding a ground-breaking verdict it had announced last year, recognising sexual minorities, who were among the most oppressed in conservative, patriarchal Nepali society, as being born such and entitled to all the rights and remedies all other Nepali citizens enjoyed.
Now, following up on the judgement, the top court has asked the Maoist government to form a seven-member committee to study same sex partnership/marriage acts in other countries and recommend a similar act to the Nepal government.
The court has also asked the government - that is scheduled to promulgate a new constitution by 2010 - to ensure that the language of the new statute does not discriminate against the sexual minorities. Read more
Sunil Babu Pant and Others/ v. Nepal Government and Others, Supreme Court of Nepal (21 December 2007)
(Note: Summary based on translation published in National Judicial Academy Law Journal, 2 NJA Law Journal 2008, pp. 261-286.)
Procedural Posture
In April 2007, the Blue Diamond Society, MITINI Nepal, Cruse AIDS Nepal, and Parichaya Nepal, all organizations representing lesbians, gays, and “people of the third gender”, filed a writ petition under Article 107(2) of the Interim Constitution of Nepal seeking recognition of transgender individuals as a third gender, a law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and reparations by the State to victims of State violence and discrimination.
Facts
Under Nepal’s citizenship card system, all adult citizens with citizenship cards were given access to certain benefits, such as ration cards, passports, and residency cards. Officials frequently denied citizenship cards to individuals who wished to register as a third gender rather than as male or female. In addition, although not used to prohibit same-sex sexual relationships, Nepal’s Criminal Code criminalised “unnatural sexual intercourse”. People of the third gender (metis) frequently faced police violence and harassment because of their gender expression.
Issue
Whether LGBTI people were entitled to the full range of constitutional and international human rights.
As a result of this decision, new citizenship cards have a separate column for the third sex. In November 2008, the Supreme Court directed the Government of Nepal to draft laws recognizing same-sex marriage.