Nepal officially recognizes an LGBT+ marriage, the first in its history

The bride and groom, now officially united, congratulate themselves on a victory “for all”.

Nepal has recognized the marriage of a first LGBT+ couple in the country, the authorities announced on Thursday, November 30. Maya Gurung, a 41-year-old transgender woman and Surendra Pandey, a 27-year-old man, who got married in 2017 in a Hindu ceremony, obtained their marriage certificate at a locality in central Lamjung district on Wednesday. “We are very happy and proud. It has finally happened,” Maya Gurung responded to AFP. “It’s a victory, not just for us, but for all couples like ours”she added.

Yubraj Adhikari, the chairman of Dordi Rural Municipality, clarified that it was issued as per the instructions of the Department of National Identification and Civil Registrar, after a favorable ruling by the Supreme Court. This court, in fact, issued a provisional order in June allowing transgender and same-sex couples to have their marriage recognized. She called on the government to create a new temporary register for these unions, pending appropriate legislation.

“A decades-long battle”

The bride and groom first contacted the district authorities, who did not grant their request. Their appeal was also rejected. But local authorities were “much more attentive”greeted their lawyer, Rounik Raj Aryal. “This is a victory after a decades-long battle for marriage equality. [Le couple] wrote history. This is a major event for us.”said Sunil Babu Pant, who campaigns for LGBT+ rights.

Nepal has some of South Asia’s most progressive legislation on gay and transgender rights, including seminal reforms dating from 2007 that prohibit discrimination by gender or based on sexual orientation. Since 2015, it has also delivered passports with the mention “others” for gender categories, no longer limiting the choice to “male or female”.

In 2023, the Supreme Court also ordered the government to recognize the non-heterosexual marriage of a Nepalese person with a foreign person and to grant a visa to the latter. The LGBT+ community in Nepal, of more than 900,000 members, nevertheless remains the victim of discrimination, particularly in employment, health and education.