Nepal second Asian country to recognise same-sex marriage

A local body in Nepal on Wednesday officially registered the nation’s first same-sex marriage. Following the interim order from the top court of the country issued on June 28, 2023, the Dordi Village Council in Lamjung District of Nepal officially recorded the marriage between Surendra Pandey and Ram Bahadur Gurung aka Maya Gurung on Wednesday.
The marriage certificate was issued in the name of Surendra Pandey and Ram Bahadur Gurung aka Maya Gurung.

Surendra Pandey and Ram Bahadur Gurung, the same sex couples who earlier had tried to register their marriage at the Kathmandu District Court, were sent back denying registration despite the order from Supreme Court. The same sex couple went to the National Identity Card and Registration Department who further directed for the registration of the marriage.

Earlier speaking to Media, Surendra had said, “Supreme Court’s verdict had really increased hope amongst people of our community but the later verdict eroded the expectations of those waiting to get married. But our hope hasn’t really faded, we have been redirected to high-court from the district court. We have been following the court for a month hoping we will be served justice. “Those couples who want to get legally married despite being LGBTQIA+ need not face hurdles. This is not only for us but for others who want to take same step in future, he added.

On June, a single bench of judge Til Prasad Shrestha issued an interim order directing the authorities to make necessary arrangements to register the marriages of sexual minorities.
In the order, the Supreme Court stated the clause 69 (1) of the Civil Code 2074 states that a person has right of marriage and Nepal’s Constitution clause 18 (1) states equality.
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court a decade and half back had allowed sexual minorities to marry but the Civil Code of the nation hasn’t approved the same sex marriage.

As per the latest census of 2021, there are a total of 2, 928 people who identified themselves as “others” in terms of gender or sexual orientation. The census of 2021 also set the mark as the first census of the nation to start recording the population of sexual minorities.