Nepal has now become the world’s first least developed country to achieve marriage equality.
Members of Nepal’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community take part in a Pride Parade in Kathmandu on August 16, 2019. (Photo by PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP) (Photo credit should read PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty Images)
This comes after the country’s Supreme Court issued a temporary order to allow same-sex marriages on Wednesday June 28.
Activists and youths from LGBTQI+ community takes part in the annual pride parade in Kathmandu, Nepal on 10 June, 2023. (Photo by Rojan Shrestha/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The temporary order was issued by a single judge as the court rules on a case brought forward by LGBTQ activists.
KATHMANDU, NEPAL – 2022/08/12: Nepalese revelers wearing colorful outfits dance during the pride parade of LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, intersexual, transgender, asexual). People from LGBTQIA gathered and attended the parade to display their presence in society. (Photo by Bivas Shrestha/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Now, same-sex couples and people who identify as third gender can register their marriage and enjoy the same rights as heterosexual married couples.
Members of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community take part in Pride Parade in Kathmandu, Nepal, August 19, 2016. Hundreds of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transvestites paraded through Nepal’s capital to demand that rights for sexual minorities be included in the country’s new constitution. (Photo by Sunil Pradhan/NurPhoto)
“We have won our battle, we are very happy with the [Supreme Court] decision,” Pinky Gurung, the president of the Blue Diamond Society, an LGBTQ rights organization, said, according to the Himalayan Times.
Activists and members of sexual minority groups from LGBTQI+ community parade in Nepali capital Kathmandu on 10 June, 2023. Nepal on second Saturday of June marks the annual pride parade. (Photo by Sanjit Pariyar/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“We were treated horrendously by our family, society and kin due to lack of law, but now we can easily tackle all the complications on our own with the help of our partner,” he added.
Nepal has made significant progress in LGBTQ rights since a Supreme Court ruling in 2007.
Members of Nepal’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community hold placards as they take part in a Pride Parade in Kathmandu on June 29, 2019. (Photo by PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP) (Photo credit should read PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty Images)
The ruling ended a ban on gay sex, introduced an official third gender and made LGBTQ discrimination illegal.
Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ+) community sit under a rainbow flag during a Pride Parade in Kathmandu on June 11, 2022. (Photo by PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP) (Photo by PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2021, a third gender was included in its census for the first time.
KATHMANDU, OTHER, NEPAL – 2019/08/16: Participants pose for pictures during the parade.
Nepal’s LGBT community celebrates the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) pride parade annually to commemorate those who lost their lives due to pride rights. (Photo by Sunil Pradhan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Now it has become the second country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage after Taiwan.
KATHMANDU, NEPAL – 2022/08/12: Nepalese reveler poses with a rainbow umbrella and shawl during the pride parade of LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, intersexual, transgender, asexual). People from LGBTQIA gathered and attended the parade to display their presence in society. (Photo by Bivas Shrestha/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The court still has to issue a final decision, but temporary orders generally have a significant impact on the outcome of a case.
Activists and youths from LGBTQI+ community takes part in the annual pride parade in Kathmandu, Nepal on 10 June, 2023. (Photo by Rojan Shrestha/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
