Expat Health Insurance News: Nepal celebrates first gay pride
25/08/10 17:20
An expatriate has made history by becoming the first foreigner to marry his gay lover in Nepal, just in time for the country to celebrate its first gay pride festival.
Sanjay Shah, originally from Leicester in the UK, got hitched to his Indian partner in a ceremony in the capital city, Kathmandu.
While Nepal does not legally recognise same-sex marriage, weddings between gay men and women are blessed by priests and can be supported by a marriage certificate.
Today (August 25th), the nation hosted gay pride in the capital organised by equal rights campaigners the Blue Diamond Society.
Expatriate health insurance policyholders may have mingled with the 3,000 participants at the event, which was put on to coincide with the festival of Gai Jatra, a day that pays homage to the dead.
President of the organising society Sunil Babu Panta told Earthtimes that the parade was held on the day of the festival because it is traditionally a time when transgendered people can dress up without feeling ashamed.
It is a good day to hold gay pride "because while you also pray for our deceased third gender friends who died in discrimination, it's a day to open up in a conservative society like Nepal," he commented.
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