“Since the apex court´s declaration many LGBTIs have come out of the closet,” informs Subash Pokharel, an officer at the Blue Diamond Society (BDS). “We currently have branches in 40 districts where nearly 134,000 LGBTIs have registered themselves.”
This significant rise in confidence is also due to Sunil Babu Pant´s appointment in the Constituent Assembly. Pant is the first gay CA member and founder of the BDS. He was also nominated on the thematic committee for Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles in May 2008.
BDS, established in 2001, has nearly 1300 employees across the country with seven offices in the capital. Thousands of LGBTIs come to take part in workshops held at BDS offices, some of which have been supported by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare. The workshops range from sewing and beautician courses to computer and English language classes.
“Discrimination still exists in work places, schools and communities, but the atrocities committed by the police have gone down, making LBGTIs feel much safer,” says Pokharel. “Sunil has been working hard to lobby for the rights of LGBTIs and we hope that they will be included in the new constitution.”
Legal advisor for BDS, Raju Bhandari, points out that transgender or third gender (TG) individuals are more vulnerable to discrimination than homosexuals. A TG is a person who is biologically male or female, but with the physical appearance of the opposite sex. Since they are not completely male or female, they are referred to as TGs.
“One can easily tell when a biologically born male dresses as a female or vice versa but you cannot necessarily tell if a person is a homosexual by his or her physical appearance which is why TGs are in a much more vulnerable situation,” says Bhandari. Current president of BDS, Sanjeev Gurung, is also a TG, who prefers to be called Pinky Gurung.
In addition to revision of all discriminatory laws, the two main demands of LGBTIs include legality of same sex marriage and the recognition of the TG identity.
“There are about 80,000 TGs like me today in Nepal, excluding lesbians,” claims Badri Pun, who is biologically female but identifies herself as a man. Pun, 37, moved to Kathmandu from Myagdi 20 years ago and has been working with the BDS for the past five years. “It was difficult living in the village,” she* recalls and adds, “But now there are seven registered lesbian organizations in Nepal and we are opening the 8th one here in Kathmandu.”
Naulo Srijana in Nepalgunj and Sahara Samaj in Itahari have been running for the past two years while Saino Nepal and Sangini Nepal are newly opened organizations in Chitwan and Birgunj respectively. Pokhara, Dhangadhi and Butwal also have their own lesbian support organizations.
“What we would ideally prefer is the abolishment of ´sex´ as an identification category which gives rise to all sorts of discrimination,” says Pun, whose citizen certificate reads Dil Kumari, female. He asserts, “A citizen is a citizen and we should all have equal rights.”
* (Corrected)
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