Nepal Becomes First South Asian Country to Officially Recognise a Queer Marriage

New Delhi: Nepal has become the first South Asian country to officially register a queer marriage. The registration took place in Lamjung, according to The Kathmandu Post.

Twenty-seven-year old Surendra Pandey and 37-year-old Maya Gurung registered their marriage five years after getting married at a temple, the portal reported.

“We met in a restaurant and immediately liked each other. After a couple of weeks of courtship, we moved in together,” said Maya about their meeting around nine years ago. “But our family and society did not accept us. We then moved to Kathmandu. Although we got married in a temple five years ago, our marriage was not legally recognised.”

Dordi Rural Municipality chairman Yuvaraj Adhikari told The Kathmandu Post that the couple's registration request had been filed a week ago. “Their marriage has been registered at the ward office after the Department of National ID and Civil Registration instructed it to register the marriage in the temporary record as per the Supreme Court’s interim order until the formulation of a law,” said Adhikari.

In June this year, Nepal's Supreme Court had passed an interim order saying same-sex couples should be allowed to register their marriages while a final decision is made on the matter.

Rights activists have welcomed Surendra and Maya's marriage registration. "It is historic," Sunil Babu Pant, founder of the Blue Diamond Society, told Reuters. "It will open the door for them to jointly open bank accounts, own and transfer property like just any other couples."

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