KATHMANDU,

Gender and sexual minorities have been demanding that the current amendment to the Nepali Citizenship Bill should not be passed by the federal parliament as it is. Leaders of gender and sexual minorities have been enforcing upon the removal of the bill which states that citizenship can be obtained with gender identity by changing one's gender, on the condition that the provision of medical report as proof is mandatory. In this issue, the third episode of sexploration explores the importance of gender markers with Bhumika Shrestha, a third gender LGBTIQ rights activist.

Transgender human rights activist from Blue Diamond Society (BDS) and Vice president at Federation of Sexual and Gender Minorities Nepal (FSGMN), Bhumika Shrestha says, “The government is trying to violate the human rights of sexual and gender minorities through the bill.” She stressed the need to get citizenship by changing gender on the basis of self-declaration.

Shrestha says, “We say 'my body is my right', but to say that I can get citizenship with gender identity only if I change my gender is a state intervention into my body. The provision of mandatory certification by a doctor in the bill is violating the right to privacy of people belonging to sexual and gender minorities.”

The law provides citizenship on the basis of "female", "male" or "other" gender identities. But Shrestha says that not everyone in the sexual and gender minority community wants to identify themselves with the 'other' gender. "Some people have a different kind of gender identity and want to identify themselves accordingly. Everyone in this community, whether, 'gay', 'lesbian', 'bisexual', 'transgender', 'asexual', 'pan-sexual', 'non-binary gender' is demanding to be identified according to their gender," Shrestha said. Shrestha added that despite these claims by people from sexual and gender minorities that their gender should be identified, in particular transgender men and women need to be identified according to their gender.

Video Link:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5izu8VVDgI