GLBTQ destination du jour: Nepal

Sandhya Tamang, the transgender Beauty Queen of 2008, posing with Madhav Kumar Nepal, Hon'ble Prime Minister of Nepal on World AIDS Day 2009

With the Ugandan anti-gay death penalty legislation raising international ire (like Sweden cutting $50 million aid funding), and Argentinian transvestites suffering kidnapping and torture by the local police, it might feel like the whole world’s against gays these days.  Even Thailand’s famed gateu-i, while widely accepted on the street, are required by law to maintain their birth gender on ID cards, leading to discrimination and humiliation.  So where’s the next out-and-proud GLBTQ destination?

Nepal.

The traditionally conservative country’s Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex are natural persons irrespective of their masculine and feminine gender and they have the right to exercise their rights and live an independent life in society.”  Nepali homosexuals are afforded all of the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts, and Nepal has even offered a “third sex” option for its national ID cards.  Gay and gay-friendly clubs now abound in Kathmandu and the Blue Diamond Society keeps the gay, lesbian, and transgendered community appraised of relevant information with a brightly-colored and cheerful website.

Sunil Babu Pant, an openly gay legislator (and Communist), has also started the travel agency Pink Mountain Travels and Tours, which is offering gay marriages atop Mt Everest, among other enthusiastically gay-friendly outings.  So if you’re gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or queer, and looking for a friendly vacation destination…Nepal is opening its arms to you.

(Thanks to Brett for turning me on to this whole Nepal situation)