Sunil Pant MP In a long-fought for move the government of Nepal has agreed to extend official citizenship to its glbti people under an 'other' gender category. Although traditional Nepalese culture recognises more than just two - straight female and straight male - genders official doccuments have always required Nepal's glbti people to select from only those two options on official documents. Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs has instructed the Ministry of Law and Justice to amend existing legislation. Once this occurs, the third sex community will be able to obtain citizenship in the ‘others’ category, according to Shanker Koirala, a Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson. “Our community feels we are finally being granted an identity by the state, and my friends have told me they feel proud about it," says openly gay Nepalese MP and human rights campaigner Sunil Pant. "Getting an identification will solve 50 per cent of our problems. It will also help find the correct figures onthe number of third gender in Nepal, so the government can address the problems facing this community.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 30th May 2012 - 12:47am