First lesbian couple in Nepal officially registers their marriage

Kathmandu: Anju Devi Shrestha, nicknamed Dipti, and Suprita Gurung, both 33, have scripted history by becoming the first lesbian couple in Nepal to officially register their marriage.

Dipti, a resident of Bardiya district in western Nepal, and Suprita, a resident of Syangja district, on Sunday, got their marriage registered at Jamuna Rural Municipality of Bardiya district.

Ward Secretary Dipak Nepal handed them the marriage certificate, said Sunil Babu Panta, a gay activist and a former member of Parliament.

This is the first case of a lesbian couple officially getting registered for their marriage in South Asia, Pant claimed.

Nepal was also the first country in South Asia to have formally registered same-sex marriage.

Mayako Pahichan Nepal, a non-governmental organisation, meaning “Recognition of Love”, in a statement, expressing happiness over the official registration of same-sex marriage.

“The Nepalese LGBT communities have launched a campaign for identity-based rights of the sexual minority communities since 2001 and the campaign has become successful in getting officially registered same-sex marriage after more than two decades of struggle,” it said in a statement.

Surendra Pandey, the general secretary of Mayako Pahichan Nepal, in the statement, said a press conference was organised on Monday to formally make public the first lesbian marriage and to celebrate the occasion.

On November 29 last year, Maya Gurung, 35, and Surendra Pandey, 27, officially got their marriage registered in Lamjung district as the first same-sex couple.

Both Gurung and Pandey were male at their birth.

This makes Nepal, the first in South Asia to formally recognise and register a same-sex marriage following the Supreme Court's decision.

In 2007, Nepal's Supreme Court had already granted permission for same-sex marriage, a stance further reinforced by the 2015 constitution, explicitly prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.

However, on June 27 last year, the Supreme Court issued an interim order, prompted by a writ petition led by individuals, including Gurung, to officially legalise same-sex marriage in Nepal.