Kathmandu [Nepal], June 14 : Hundreds marched on the streets of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, on Saturday, demanding equal rights while celebrating the month of June as "Pride Month."
While dancing and playing music, the marginalised sexual orientation and gender identity and sex characteristics (PoMSOGIESC), minorities chanted slogans demanding equal rights from the government as well as from society.
Nepal has been marking parade for people of Queer Youth Group-a youth-led queer organisation in collaboration with Queer Rights Collective an informal collective of queer folks and Campaign for Change, an intersex rights organisation has been organizing the annual celebration.
On Saturday, the group marched from Ratnapark to Narayan Chaur chanting slogans and holding placards. The group has been demanding for their recognition and fighting for the identity which has been their first and foremost thing.
The Pride Day in particular is the day when Pride Parade is celebrated. Pride Parade is a particular parade / rally event, while the day it falls on is the Pride Day. Second Saturday of June is the Pride Day in Nepal. The month of June in the Gregorian calendar
calendar is the 'Pride Month'.
"It is very important for us. It is a festival for us, it helps us to open-up, make the community visible to the society and show the unity, that why it has a high value. It is not only limited with the LGBTIQ+ community but for the whole community and society, a country but for the equality of all," an attendee of the Pride Parade identifying as First Lady told ANI.
The sexual minorities have continued demanding for formal legalization of same sex marriage and issue of adoption of children. The newly promulgated constitution of Nepal in September of 2015 has special provision forsexual minorities but the group has been demanding for complete its implementation.
Nepal's marginalized sexual minorities has been demanding for citizenship stating "Others" as their gender but the provisional ambiguity in the citizenship law has been creating a major hurdle for the group to obtain a citizenship. The existing administrative provisions still demand sexual minorities to produce medical certificate or clearance from certified doctors to ascertain their sexual orientation. The participants of the parade this year, as well, chanted slogans demanding equal treatment and access to the fundamental rights and the right to citizenship.
"It has a lot of importance in my life because I look forward to it from months before. It's the month that brings me joy- June. It is because I know that there is going to be a parade and Nepali from all over the Kathmandu come here and celebrate, I think that's
beautiful," Anugya, another attendee of the Pride Parade, told ANI.
Having one of progressive constitution to grant rights and recognition to sexual minorities, Nepal, from last census of 2021, has started collecting the data of LGBTQI+ as well. Though the newly promulgated constitution of Nepal in September of 2015 has special provision for sexual minorities but the group has been demanding for complete its implementation.
The government had promised to provide the group with citizenship on the basis of sexual orientation but the condition isn't that favorable when it goes into implementation. The minorities have been voicing for same sex marriage which they claim would give them a chance to live life that of heterosexuals.
As per the latest census of 2021 there are a total of 2, 928 people who identified themselves as "others" in terms of gender or sexual orientation. The census of 2021 also set the mark as the first census of the nation to start recording the population of sexual minorities.
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