18.9.2008.
KATHMANDU: A 21-year-old lesbian has become the first person in Nepal
to be officially recognised as a third gender person under the
Maoist-led new government, a move being hailed as a landmark for
sexual minorities in a country still dominated by a strong feudal
society.
Bishnu Adhikari, who was forced to leave her home in Pokhara town by
outraged relatives and neighbours, on Wednesday became the first
person in Nepal to be given an official identity card that described
her sex as "third gender" instead of the usual male and female
categories.
She was issued an official ID that gave her gender as "Third".
Naulo Bihani (New Dawn), a Nepali NGO that works for the rights of
gays and lesbians in Kaski district in central Nepal, said Adhikari
had applied for citizenship at the Kaski district administration
office asking for an ID that would identify her as third gender.
Adhikari, a human rights officer employed by the Blue Diamond Society
(BDS), the pioneer organisation in Nepal to champion the cause of gays
and lesbians, was inspired to ask for a third gender ID after Nepal's
first publicly gay lawmaker Sunil Babu Pant visited Pokhara about 10
days ago.
During his visit, Pant, who is also the founder of the BDS, gave a
public speech discussing the constitutional rights of third genders
and encouraging them to demand a citizenship certificate that truly
identified them.
The MP, who was nominated to the newly elected constituent assembly by
a minor communist party that is a partner in the ruling coalition,
said it would also be a test of the interim constitution promulgated
after the pro-democracy movement of 2006 that ensured equality for
every citizen.
Adhikari had a tough fight acquiring the ID she wanted.
Krishna Adhikari, regional coordinator at Naulo Bihani, said the
officials first rejected her demand saying she looked exactly like a
man and therefore should be issued an ID that described her as male.
However, after she consistently refused to accept it, saying that in
view of the new changes that had electrified Nepal her request should
also be heard, the officials went into a huddle among themselves and
then finally relented.
Adhikari's fight was made easier by the Supreme Court of Nepal that in
a landmark judgement last year said gays were "natural" people. It
directed the government to remove all discrimination against the
community and ensure for them the rights enjoyed by all other
citizens.
Last year, Chanda Musalman, a gay man who became a transgender,
dressing as a woman, wrested partial recognition for her community
when she was given an ID that described her gender as "both male and
female".
KATHMANDU: A 21-year-old lesbian has become the first person in Nepal
to be officially recognised as a third gender person under the
Maoist-led new government, a move being hailed as a landmark for
sexual minorities in a country still dominated by a strong feudal
society.
Bishnu Adhikari, who was forced to leave her home in Pokhara town by
outraged relatives and neighbours, on Wednesday became the first
person in Nepal to be given an official identity card that described
her sex as "third gender" instead of the usual male and female
categories.
She was issued an official ID that gave her gender as "Third".
Naulo Bihani (New Dawn), a Nepali NGO that works for the rights of
gays and lesbians in Kaski district in central Nepal, said Adhikari
had applied for citizenship at the Kaski district administration
office asking for an ID that would identify her as third gender.
Adhikari, a human rights officer employed by the Blue Diamond Society
(BDS), the pioneer organisation in Nepal to champion the cause of gays
and lesbians, was inspired to ask for a third gender ID after Nepal's
first publicly gay lawmaker Sunil Babu Pant visited Pokhara about 10
days ago.
During his visit, Pant, who is also the founder of the BDS, gave a
public speech discussing the constitutional rights of third genders
and encouraging them to demand a citizenship certificate that truly
identified them.
The MP, who was nominated to the newly elected constituent assembly by
a minor communist party that is a partner in the ruling coalition,
said it would also be a test of the interim constitution promulgated
after the pro-democracy movement of 2006 that ensured equality for
every citizen.
Adhikari had a tough fight acquiring the ID she wanted.
Krishna Adhikari, regional coordinator at Naulo Bihani, said the
officials first rejected her demand saying she looked exactly like a
man and therefore should be issued an ID that described her as male.
However, after she consistently refused to accept it, saying that in
view of the new changes that had electrified Nepal her request should
also be heard, the officials went into a huddle among themselves and
then finally relented.
Adhikari's fight was made easier by the Supreme Court of Nepal that in
a landmark judgement last year said gays were "natural" people. It
directed the government to remove all discrimination against the
community and ensure for them the rights enjoyed by all other
citizens.
Last year, Chanda Musalman, a gay man who became a transgender,
dressing as a woman, wrested partial recognition for her community
when she was given an ID that described her gender as "both male and
female".
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