LGBTQ rights in Nepal | |
---|---|
Status | Legal since 2007 |
Gender identity | Third gender recognised |
Military | LGBT people allowed to serve openly[1] |
Discrimination protections | Limited protections[2] |
Family rights | |
Recognition of relationships | Same-sex marriage since 2024[3][4][5] |
Adoption | No |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) rights in Nepal have expanded in the 21st century, though much of Nepal's advancements on LGBT rights have come from the judiciary and not the legislature.[6][5] Same-sex sexual acts have been legal in Nepal since 2007 after a ruling by the Supreme Court of Nepal.[7]
On 28 June 2023, a single judge bench of Justice Til Prasad Shrestha issued a historic interim order directing the government to make necessary arrangements to "temporarily register" the marriages of "non-traditional couples and sexual minorities". The full bench of the Supreme Court has yet to deliver a final verdict.[8][9] The first "same-sex" marriage of a trans woman and a cisgender man occurred in November 2023.[3]
On 24 April 2024, the National ID and Civil Registration Department issued a circular to all local registration authorities, instructing them to enter all same-sex marriages into the separate register. The temporary registration does not grant same-sex couples the same legal rights and recognition as opposite-sex couples. Same-sex couples cannot inherit property, receive tax subsidies, make spousal medical decisions or adopt children, among others. It is not known if all local governments are complying with the instruction of the National ID and Civil Registration Department.[10][11]
Prior to March 2023, and based on a ruling of the Supreme Court of Nepal in late 2007, the government was considering the legalization of same-sex marriage. According to several sources, the Constitution of 2015 was expected to include it.[12][13] Although the Constitution explicitly says that "marginalized" communities are to be granted equal rights under the law, and that Nepal's LGBT people fall into this category, it does not explicitly address the right of same-sex marriage.[14]
The Nepalese Constitution, approved by the Constituent Assembly on 16 September 2015,[15] includes several provisions pertaining to the rights of LGBT people.[14] These are the right to acquire a citizenship certificate in accordance to one's gender identity,[16] a prohibition on discrimination on any ground including sex by the State and by private parties.[17]
Despite some laws and provisions protecting third gender people, LGBT people still face societal discrimination in Nepal and there is significant pressure to conform and to marry a partner of the opposite sex.[18] Some observers accused the media and activists of pinkwashing and spreading disinformation about same-sex marriage and LGBT rights in Nepal.[19]