KATHMANDU, Nepal — Hundreds of members of Nepal’s LGBTQ+ community and their supporters took to the streets of Kathmandu on Saturday to celebrate Pride Month.
Nepal has a growing LGBTQ+ community and has made significant gains for the rights of sexual minorities in the last few years, at a time when some countries including the United States have curtailed such rights.
The government elected in March under Prime Minister Balendra Shah has formed the Ministry of Women, Children, Gender and Sexual Minorities and Social Security, the first time a department has been dedicated to deal with the issues of women and sexual minorities.
Nepal became one of the first nations in Asia to allow same-sex marriage. The 2015 constitution explicitly states there can be no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
A 2007 court decision required the government to make changes to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people. People who do not identify as female or male are now able to choose “third gender” on their passports and other government documents. The U.S. government abolished that option on its passports last year.
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