Maya Gurung, a trans woman, and Surendra Pandey have registered their union in the municipality of Dordi (Nepal)
The local authorities of a town of Nepal They registered the first marriage last Wednesday LGTBIQ + of the nation of Himalayas, as reported by officials and activists. The news comes five months after the Supreme Court issued a provisional order that cleared the way for this type of marriage in a largely conservative country.
Maya Gurung, trans woman legally recognized as a man in the country, and Surendra Pandey, a 25-year-old man, have become the first couple LGTBIQ + to officially register your marriage at the rural municipality office of Dordy, in the district of Lumjung, West of Nepal. They are the first people to perform this procedure, not only in Nepal, but in all South of Asia.
«Today, Maya and I got married, we are very happy. At this historic moment, we remember all the leaders and friends of our minority communities", Has expressed pandey through Facebook.
«We are very happy. Like us, all the other members of our community are too«, Has assured pandey in a telephone interview with Reuters. The couple has been in a relationship for nine years and married according to Hindu rituals in 2016 in the capital, Kathmandu.
Temporary registration
In June, the Supreme Court of the country issued a provisional order last June that allowed the same sex couples register their marriages while awaiting a final verdict.
The highest judicial body of the Asian country ordered the creation of a temporary registration for parallel homosexual marriages to the current registry, which only contemplates the options «husband" Y "wife«, at the expense of modifying the current law.
«Our families accept us, but legally we could not be husband and wife", has explained Gurung to Efe, celebrating that «Thanks to the Supreme Court's decision we are now legally a couple«.
GurungFurthermore, he has highlighted that the acceptance of his marriage registration in the town of Dordy opens the doors to hundreds of couples in the community LGTBQ + who seek to see their unions recognized in Nepal.
«There are still hundreds of couples who do not want to come out of the closet to society due to the lack of recognition (…) this Wednesday's decision will encourage them to accept their unions openly and legally", he has defended.
Gurung currently heads an organization to promote same-sex marriage and has said that although the law "accepts us", the society "not yet«. «We have to convince people that this will change", has said.
