Naresh
Nepal will issue passports to sexual minorities, adding third gender category. Before lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people were identified as either male or female in passports although in 2007 Supreme Court ordered authorities to amend laws to include a third gender.
“We have changed the passport regulations and will add a third category of gender for those people who do not want to be identified as male or female,” Lok Bahadur Thapa, chief of the government’s passport department.
“It is a very progressive move, and we welcome it,” said Pinky Gurung, chief of the Blue Diamond Society, a leading gay rights group. Third gender recognition in passports can help in the elimination of widespread discrimination based on sexuality.
However, gay sex remains illegal with a maximum sentence of one year imprisonment, and gay rights activists say the LGBT community continues to face discrimination.
Reference : Reuters
