Kathmandu, Feb 13: In a groundbreaking move, Nepal has registered its ‘first’ lesbian marriage, which the LGBTIQ+ communities have hailed as a victory for them. Badhaiyatal Rural Municipality-2 in Bardiya district in Midwestern of the country registered the marriage acting on the verdict of the Supreme Court.
Anjudevi Shrestha (Dipti), 33, of Badhaiyatal-2, and Suprita Gurung, 33, of Kohalpur Municipality-5 in Banke district had been in a same-sex relationship for the past five years before being legally registered as a couple.
Nepal has become the first country to legalise lesbian marriage in South Asia, and second in Asia after Taiwan.
The marriage was registered based on their National Identity Card and the information provided by the technical branch of the Department of National ID and Registration, said local registrar and ward secretary Dipak Nepali. “The technical branch of the Department directed the temporary registration of the marriage.” This is the first marriage registration of a lesbian couple, he claimed.
It may be noted that the country regarded as having relatively liberal approach for the LGBTIQ+ communities registered its first same-sex marriage on November 29, 2023, becoming the first country to legalise same-sex marriage in South Asia, and second in Asia behind Taiwan in Asia.
Sunil Babu Pant, Asia’s first openly gay former parliamentarian, greets the move as a groundbreaking in the communities.
The couple were female by birth, and identified themselves as female.
“Nepal has gone down in history by formally registering their marriage as the first lesbian couple in South Asia,” Pant wrote on social media, “to celebrate this milestone, join the press conference held in Nepalgunj this afternoon.” Pant is also the executive director for Mayako Pahichan Nepal, a non-profit organisation working for the rights of the sexual and gender minorities.
On January 18, 2024, the couple had applied for marriage registration at the ward office. Following this, Arjun Subedi, the chief administrative officer of the rural municipality, sent a letter to the Department requesting it to provide the necessary opinion and instructions on whether the same-sex marriages can be registered or not.
The registration of the marriage that followed the landmark verdict of the Supreme Court on June 27, 2023 directing the registration of marriages involving same-sex and non-heterosexual couples has laid the ground for further safeguarding the rights of the sexual and gender minorities, observed Pant.
Pant has been advocating for the rights of the communities since 2001. On a personal level, he requested Yuba Raj Kattel, the Director General of the Department, to make necessary arrangements to register the marriage acting on the court’s order.
The way forward, he said they would register permanent marriages of the communities after making required laws. “We will make related laws according to the order given by the Supreme Court following a full hearing on the registration of same-sex marriages. We will not halt the registration of same-sex marriages now,” he said.
The Supreme Court has scheduled a full hearing on a writ petition filed for the same-sex marriage registration on coming March 14.
