This collective action was ostensibly a show of solidarity with LGBTI people everywhere and not the digital equivalent of keeping up with the Joneses. I'm all for moral support but this show of camaraderie should really begin at home. It's a bit like supporting Germany and them winning the World Cup. What were you left with? A night of fun and a bit of hoo-hah and hurrah!
Many of us are, sadly, not even aware of the status of LGBTI issues in Nepal. A lot of Western countries like England, The Republic of Ireland and now the US have only recently legalized same sex marriages. Nepal is not far behind the curve when it comes to LGBTI legislation.The signing of the CPA (Comprehensive Peace Accord) helped give impetus to the LGBTI movement that resulted in a landmark decision by the Supreme Court in 2007 that forever altered their status in Nepal – at least in legal terms. The work done up to that point by NGO's and INGO's in this field had primarily focused on prevention of aids.
But the judgment in favor of the petitioners in Sunil Babu Pant VS Government of Nepal, 2007 heralded a new era in legal reforms and advocacy of LGBTI issues. It gave legal recognition to a third gender and accepted them as natural people with the same fundamental rights as 'male' or 'female'; making Nepal one of the few countries to do so. It granted them access to citizenship papers – on which they are denoted as 'Other' – and other official documents which are essential in all facets of life in Nepal.
The decision also established non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender by ending discriminatory policies and forming a committee to look into the possibility of introducing same sex marriages in Nepal. It meant that people were also allowed to register as a third gender in the 2011 National Census despite the many controversies and omissions that surfaced in the end.
There were several variables that enabled this historic decision to be taken. The filing of the petition at a time of social upheaval when different groups were all clamoring for social equality and inclusion greatly helped its cause. This task was also easier in Nepal than it might have been in countries like India where politics and religion are inseparable bedfellows and religious militancy is a regular feature on the streets.The differing reactions to the release of Deepa Mehta's 'Fire' in India and a similarly themed film 'Sungava' in Nepal provides an interesting contrast, in this respect.
These legislative changes might have allowed our country to bask in a more progressive light which has – it can be argued – led to accrual of benefits through increased trade, tourism and aid. But how much has it actually benefitted the people for whom it was enacted? While we may have made significant progress on the legal front, the ground reality does not mirror our open minded statutory reform.The main disappointment is that our liberal policies have not been followed by a change in social attitudes. Even though anti sodomy laws may have existed in Nepal (the Muluki Ain doesn't expressly cover homosexuality) our country does not have a past characterized by anti-gay violence on either moral or religious pretexts. But this does not mean that prejudices don't exist. On the contrary, they are deeply entrenched in our social consciousness.
In a society rife with sexual prudishness, social opinion towards LGBTI people is often complicated and inconsistent across age groups. Even our increased exposure to Western and other cultures through cheap foreign travel and ICT developments have not led to a noticeable decline in the antipathetic attitudes towards LGBTI people. Their non-conformity with social expectations and gender norms means that they are still ostracized, discriminated against, and harassed with alarming regularity. All of this has the effect of marginalizing them and severely limiting their employment opportunities, thereby forcing many into sex roles.
This disadvantage that they experience as a result of their perceived deviance only reinforces their handicap, further pushing them into the mire and perpetrating a vicious cycle that they cannot escape from. As long as this social stigmatization persists we will only be limited to paper exercises in the name of reform, and the main objectives of social justice and equality will remain unfulfilled.
It will be far more difficult to change social attitudes than laws in a country where people still struggle to marry someone of their choice, even from the opposite sex. Let's just hope that they are spared the caste, color, creed, and ethnicity worries if and when they get legislative sanction for same sex marriages. Their road so far has been challenging enough and it only looks to be the first battle won in the course of this potentially long war. For now though, I'm going to take a rain check on that rainbow filter.
gunjan.u@gmail.com
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