GayTravel Report:
Nepal is on its way to becoming one of the region’s more socially liberal countries after authorities announced recently that Nepalese passports will offer a third gender option for sexual minorities. The move is nearly eight years in the making, as a 2007 landmark Supreme Court ruling requiring the government to provide protection of LGBT rights included asking authorities to amend legislation to include a third gender.
The chief of the government’s passport department, Lok Bahadur Thapa had this to say: "We have changed the passport regulations and will add a third category of gender for those people who do not want to be identified as male or female."
Hijra (transgender) women photograped in Bangladesh, Nepals neighbor in South Asia
Nepal follows Australia and New Zealand, who also have a third gender option —indeterminate — marked with an “X” on travel documents.
More recently (February 4th 2015) Nepal's minister for information and communication, Minendra Rijal stated that 'This community should be treated as any other human being.' Nepal's minister was driving the point that while the government is taking steps to broaden LGBT rights in Nepal, it is up to the societies behaviors and attitudes towards LGBT people to braoden acceptance and tolerance to all citizens.
'I urge the community to stand up and take a lead,' he said. 'As a minister, I will prepare myself to be a leader who will lead in such a way that encourages everyone to be more sensitive towards the issues of rights and health for the transgender and hijra community – with the hope of change resulting that will be considered revolutionary in retrospect.'
In most South Asia countries gay sex is still criminalized; however, Nepal legalized homosexuality in 2007.
