Activists march in Nepal for Gay, Lesbian, Transgender Equality!
Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersexed people have equal rights under the law in Nepal thanks to legislation written by the Honorable Sunil Pan. Member of Parliament Sunil Pant invited me to attend Nepal’s Gay Pride Celebration on August 15th, 2011. This year it was taking place outside of Kathmandu in the town of Narayanghat. I wish I could have spent the entire day with the group of activists. I was impressed by the number of transgender people. “The activists gathered to remind law and policy makers to include gay and lesbian provisions in the country’s new constitution, which is in the process of being drafted. “We want spread awareness among the people in the rural areas too. People in the capital mostly accept the idea but we need to spread the awareness,” Pant told the BBC” Pink Pages (Aug. 15th 2011).
One part of my mandate was to “promote equality between women and men.” Based on my experiences in Nepal and learning from the Honorable Sunil Pant, I urge Canadian International Development Aid organizations to reconsider how they define gender equality.
On a related note: When census gatherers went door-to-door visiting 5.6 million households across Nepal this month, they collected information not only on the country’s men and women, but also on a so-called third gender.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/31/nepal.census.gender/index.html?hpt=T2
images of nepali youth culture. there really is a first world in every third world … nepal makes me sing Trinh Minh-ha’s (1987) lines “A Third World in every First World; A First World in Every Third World; And vice-versa …” i think that’s how it goes.
