Nepal Becomes First South Asian Country To Legally Register Same-Sex Marriage (Image:X/ nonextquestion)
In a “historic” move, Nepal became the first south-Asian nation to formally register same-sex marriage, five months after the Supreme Court legalized it. As said by the local authorities, the 35-year-old trans-woman Maya Gurung and 27-year-old gay man Surendra Pandey got legally married on Wednesday. They registered their marriage at the Dordi Rural Municipality of Lamjung district in Nepal, confirmed Sanjib Gurung, president of Blue Diamond Society, an organization working for the rights and welfare of the sexual minorities in Nepal.
“We are both very happy. Like us, all others in our community are happy too”, the news agency Reuters quoted Surendra Pandey. The couple was in relationship for the past nine years and got married according to the Hindu rituals in 2016 in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal. The Chief Administrative Officer of the Dordi Municipality, Hem Raj Kafle, said Reuters that, they had issued the certificate to the couple legally validating their marriage in consideration of the Supreme Court order and instructions from relevant government authorities.
It was in 2007, the Supreme Court of Nepal allowed same-sex marriage and the Constitution of the nation, which was adopted in 2015, also states that there cannot be any discrimination in the country based on an individual’s sexual orientation. In June 2023, the top court issued an interim order to legalise same-sex marriage in Nepal in a writ petition filed by multiple people, including Sanjib Gurung of the Blue Diamond Society.
But despite the historic order to temporarily register same-sex marriage, Kathmandu District Court four months ago rejected the move citing a lack of necessary laws. The couple’s application of marriage was also rejected at that time. “It’s a great pleasure to learn about this, it is a great achievement for us, the third gender community of Nepal”, the Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted Sanjib Gurung. “There are many third-gender couples living without their identities and rights and this is going to help them a lot”, Gurung added.
