nepal's first gay marriage

so, granted, the legal status of this couple is a bit ambiguous. however, for a country that still practices chaupadi pratha (confining women to cowsheds during menstruation) in some rural areas, and is still hammering out the practice of will-based inheritance and the implementation of women's property rights, this is pretty damn progressive.

the progression of LGBTQ rights in nepal has largely been the result of the efforts of sunil babu pant, the first openly gay MP in south asia, and the advocacy group he founded, the blue diamond society. after BDS filed a complaint, the nepali supreme court ruled in 2008 that

"The government of Nepal should formulate new laws and amend existing laws in order to safeguard the rights of these people....Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex are natural persons irrespective of their masculine and feminine gender and they have the right to exercise their rights and live an independent life in society."

since the constitution still yet to be drafted, there are no laws yet that define these rights more specifically (a major part of the legal limbo in which the couple above found themselves). however, it's both awesome (for nepal) and distressing (for LGBTQ and allies in the states) that nepal has gone further* than the US in making progress towards equality.

looking forward to going to the gai jatra pride festival scheduled for aug 25. if you're in the 'du, i hope i'll see you there!

*in terms of US equivalence...sort of like if lawrence had been decided based on equal protection rather than privacy/due process? or like what the legal (if not political) implications of what will happen if perry is not overturned? dunno. law school friends will have to help this weak analogy out.

BEST. THING. EVAR.

so this is only vaguely (at best) related to nepal, but it is legitimately one of the best things i have ever seen (and this in an afternoon where i watched a clip of a chubby taiwanese boy do a spot on whitney houston impersonation).

today's headline 09/08/2010

Govt to probe local bodies' shenanigans

i'm pretty sure my grandmother is going to buy me a billion of these...

so! i had planned to write an entry about the auspicious hindu month of shravan (approx july 18-august 17 this year), when married women pray for the health of their husbands and unmarried women pray for a decent husband, but my friend, the articulate and charming ajnabee, beat me to it.

i'll add that i was equally clueless a few weeks ago when presented with green bangles by a friend of mine. i, always the awkward bideshi, immediately broke two trying to get them on. the next night i asked the same friend and her husband why i was wearing bangles all month, and subsequently accused her of tricking me into matrimonial aspirations. her husband laughed and tried to soothe me by offering a slightly different (if totally unorthodox, foreign feminist friendly) explanation. the month is holy to shiva, who's consort is parvati. shiva and parvati are among the most important manifestations of the male/female divine, and so their love/consortship is supposed to represent a sort ultimate, divine balance in a relationship. so, when you're praying during shravan, you aren't (or don't have to be) asking to find a traditionally "good" husband (with its hints of patriarchy and heteronormativity), but to find someone, like shiva and parvati, who will balance and empower...a complement and life partner.

i sort of thought i could live with that.

today's headline 01/08/2010

classic (and mildly self-promoting? sure).
the kathmandu post: Nepali film features foreign actors.