Lalitpur, Aug 20: The District Administration Office, Lalitpur has distributed citizenship to three third gender individuals under ‘other’ identity. The recipients are Ruksana Kapali of Patan, Lalitpur, and Karuna Bista and Kusum Bista of Imadol.
The citizenship issuance follows the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2069 BS, that allows SGM members, including homosexuals, third genders, intersex and bisexuals to acquire Nepali citizenship under ‘other’ category.
Ruksana has expressed happiness at receiving citizenship based on her identity. “I am very happy after getting citizenship based on my identity,” Ruksana said to Pahichan.
The campaign to mention identity in government documents, including educational certificates, is going on. She has also successfully obtained SEE (Secondary Education Examination) certificates with the recognition of her gender identity.
She called for facilitating the reissuance of citizenship under the ‘other’ category for those, who have already acquired it providing fake identity.
Aanik Rana, a third gender, has already filed a writ petition with the Supreme Court District on behalf of the SGM organisation, Blue Diamond Society, demanding the reissuance of citizenship for SGM members who have already acquired it using fake identity. However, the petition has yet to be heard despite multiple scheduled hearings, said advocate Sujan Panta.
