Nepal to be first Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage

Timothy Kincaid

January 23rd, 2010

In November we noted that the Supreme Court of Nepal had determined that sexual minorities were entitled to all the rights and remedies all other Nepali citizens enjoyed. Now they are a step closer to enacting that decision.

Reports from the Himalayan nation reveal that a new constitution will be adopted in May which will include equality provisions allowing for same-sex marriage. And Nepal wants to capitalize on the change to attract gay tourists. (Telegraph)

Sunil Babu Pant, a Communist legislator and leader of the country’s homosexual rights movement, has launched a travel company dedicated to promoting the former Hindu kingdom to gay tourists in an effort to tap the so-called “Pink Pound” and dollar.

The company will offer elephant-back bridal processions, Everest base camp ceremonies and weddings in remote Tibetan enclaves in the Himalayan republic.

Mr Pant is hoping to build on the government’s new determination to maximise income from tourism by targeting all potential markets. The country’s tourism minister wrote a welcome statement for the International Conference on Gay and Lesbian Tourism in Boston last October, in which he said he believed Nepal will benefit from an increase in gay visitors.

After disappointments in New York and New Jersey at the end of last year, it looks as though this spring will bring us the eighth (Portugal) and ninth (Nepal) nations to adopt marriage equality.

Michael Miller

January 24th, 2010

Why, when you share this article on FB, does it include the caption “Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”? I see that it’s the site’s epigraph, and the kind of anti-gay rhetoric the site addresses, but it creates an unfortunate and rather embarrassing irony in conjunction with this particular story. I’m glad I caught it before sharing.

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