Third Gender in Nepal

Nepal is a country with the majority of the population practicing Hinduism. Early myths include stories of Shikhandi, Arjuna and Ila, all characters representing the third gender. These historical characters show that there is a clear framework of the existence of third gender people in Hindu society since ancient times.

Although the Supreme Court of Nepal has ruled that the new democratic government must create laws to protect LGBTIQ rights and change existing discriminatory laws[i], society has not changed and views those who identify as third gender with concern and sympathy. Society has not yet accepted the idea of a third gender, and keeps the issue hidden. It is seen as criminal or offensive to find third gender people in Nepal.

Efforts are being carried out to ensure the rights of third gender people in Nepal. The Nepali movie Sungava, showed how people who identify as third gender face trouble in the Nepalese context. The movie aimed to create awareness and encourage society to respect third gender people. However, because there are no laws or acts protecting them, they continue to face many problems. It is not that non-governmental organizations are not working to raise awareness, but there has to be support from parliament to address this issue.

On November 18^th, 2008, the Supreme Court directed the government to enact equal rights laws for LGBT citizens[ii]; however these laws have not been put into practice. And while the Supreme Court formally recognized a lesbian relationship in 2012[iii], there has been no act to date recognizing third gender people. The only progress in this regard has been in the form of the “Other” option added after “Male” and “Female” on forms that ask about gender.

The country still remains in the dark on this issue. The first challenge people who identify with a third gender face is from their family. Family members, for the most part, do not accept it at all. They feel cursed when they find out that their child identifies as neither male nor female. Even if family members are accepting, society will not accept them. One way that Nepalese society views third gender people is as “Chakkas” –a derogatory term used for Indian third gender people who collect money along the Indian Railway. They face persecution and assault from various members of society, which is strange as the same people pray for Arjuna. It is a huge insult to third gender people in the society.

Blame goes to Nepal, which has not taken any initiative to promote third gender people. There have been special accommodations made for other marginalized communities and ethnic groups; however no steps have been taken to promote the acceptance of third gender people in this regard. In fact, there has been news regarding the attack and attempted rape of third gender people in Nepal, which the government has tried to suppress. It does not seem to be a priority of the media either, and because of this, the concern does not grow. Further, third gender people face problems even when they apply for jobs, leaving them with the options of hiding their identity or being rejected.

There are organizations like the Blue Diamond Society[iv], which has been working with the vision of creating societies that respect and value sexual and gender minorities, where sexual and gender minorities can live with equal rights and dignity, and where all sexual and gender minorities have hope and opportunity. However, the time for this seems far away, when parents will happily say that their child is gay, or lesbian, bisexual, transgender, third gender, intersexual or questioning.