September 13, 2007
Public Lesbian Wedding in Queer-Hating Nepal
Red saris are being brought out of cupboards along with red bangles and necklaces as women in Nepal get ready to celebrate Teej Friday, one of the rare festivals that are by, for and of women.
However, Kalpana Pariyar, a fresh-faced 21-year-old from Karabari village in the border district of Sunsari, and Sabi Bishwokorma, 32, also from the same region, have an additional reason to celebrate the festival, held during the monsoon.
The two, who have been living together for the last 15 months, decided to formalise their relationship by getting “married” in Kathmandu Thursday.
Disowned by their families, the defiant women came to Kathmandu this week looking for support from Blue Diamond Society (BDS), Nepal’s only gay rights organisation that last year organised the kingdom’s first public gay marriage.
Pariyar and Bishwokorma, both of whom belong to disadvantaged communities, have been drawing heart by the growing movement in the capital to wrest rights for the sexual minorities, who till the inception of the BDS in 2001, were forced to live in closets.
On Wednesday, hundreds of gays, lesbians and transgenders marched through the capital, chanting slogans.
Amazing, when you consider:
Young Lesbians Released After Month Captivity By Maoists
Nepal gays ask UN to save arrested peers in Iran
Cops assault Nepal youths for carrying condoms
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Filed under: Asia, Marriage Equality
