Same-sex couples and LGBTQ+ activists gather in Nepal’s capital for annual pride parade

Binai Gurubacharya
| Associated Press Press Agency

Kathmandu, Nepal — Hundreds of LGBTQ+ people and their supporters gathered in Nepal’s capital on Tuesday for the annual Pride parade, the first since same-sex couples were allowed to officially register same-sex marriages in the Himalayan country under a Supreme Court order in November 2023.

The annual event brings together sexual minorities and their supporters in Kathmandu during the Gai Jatra festival.

Tuesday’s rally was attended by government ministers, diplomats and officials. It began in the city’s tourist district and went through its main streets.

“Gai Jatra is a festival which is a long tradition, cultivated for years and we all are here to help preserve and continue the tradition and as a sexual minority we are trying our best to save it. We also celebrate this day as a pride parade,” said Bhumika Shrestha, a gay rights activist who was at the parade.

The Gai Jatra festival is celebrated in memory of family members who have died during the year, but has long included colorful parades in which representatives of sexual minorities take part.

After years of struggle, same-sex couples were able to register same-sex marriages for the first time in November 2023 following a Supreme Court order ordering the government to take steps to allow same-sex marriages to be registered.

LGBT rights activists have long sought to change the law to allow same-sex marriage and to repeal laws that limit marriage to heterosexual couples.

Nepal has undergone a transformation since a court ordered the government to make changes to benefit LGBTQ+ people in 2007. People who do not identify as women or men can now choose a “third gender” on their passports and other government documents. The constitution, adopted in 2015, also explicitly states there can be no discrimination based on sexual orientation.