Kathmandu : Parliamentarians have stressed the need for making the identity of the sexual and gender minorities a common agenda.

Attending a discussion on ‘Citizenship and Legal Rights of Gender and Sexual Minorities’ organised here by the Women and Social Affairs Committee under the House of Representatives, they claimed that people from the communities demanding separate identities might end up in the complexities in their citizenship and legal rights. So, there is a need to make the issue a common agenda, they suggested.

At the dialogue held (by the government) for the first time with members of the ‘Mayako Pahichan Nepal’, a non-governmental organisation established recently to advocate for the rights of the sexual and gender minorities, the Committee President Kiran Kumar Shah discussed the rights of sexual and gender minority communities with stakeholders.

On the occasion, the parliamentarians called for the state to integrate the sexual and gender minorities in other areas of job as they are forced to engage in sex work. They also advised the sexual and gender minorities to avoid sex change and hormone supplement use. Changing sex from male to female and vice-versa is not a right but a hobby, they argued.

Attending the discussion, parliamentarian Shobha Gyawali suggested that the sexual and gender minorities should avoid changing sex. “Sex change is not a right, it can be someone’s hobby. Sex change and hormone supplement intake should be stopped,” she said.

Harka Maya Bishwokarma said the sexual and gender minorities lately obtaining a citizenship certificate by changing their sex is not as per the law. “Sex change is not a fight, it is a hobby,” she said while underscoring the need for identifying a person on their biological basis.

Parliamentarian Ishwor Bahadur Rijal said that the issue of obtaining citizenship for people belonging to gender and sexual minorities should not be complicated. He said that this community needs to be integrated in the society.

Also, Shanti Pariyar Bishwokarma said she was supporting the fight of third gender people. Recalling her account of a debate with the Chief District Officer on the issue relating to the issuance of a citizenship card to third gender people, she said, “Issuing citizenship does not mean that anyone should be seen naked.”

Sita Kumari Rana said being eager to change sex is not a good idea. While congratulating a same-sex couple Maya Gurung and Surendra Pandey, who recently got their marriage legally registered for the first time in Nepal’s history of the sexual and gender minorities, she said that this marriage registration is viewed as a mirror by the society. She called for all employees and political parties to be corrected in viewing the communities.

Bindhyabasini Kansakar requested the Committee to give instructions the concerned authority to construct a third gender’s toilet inside Singha Durbar. She said the problems of the sexual and gender minority people could not be resolved by only highlighting them, but taking measures to resolve them. “A solution should be in place.”

Sunil Babu Pant, former Asia’s first gay parliamentarian and the chief advisor to the ‘Mayako Pahichan Nepal’ said that the sexual and gender minorities have started getting a citizenship card under ‘other’ category.

Saying this has paved the way for the sexual and gender minority people to get a citizenship certificate, he admitted that problems may take place when they try to obtain a citizenship card by changing their sex instead of getting it under ‘other’ category.

There is a need to finalise the citizenship procedure to ensure citizenship and legal rights of the minorities, he said. The government should be clear about whether or not to grant a citizenship card to those who have changed their gender identity, he said.

Vice Chairperson of the Mayako Pahichan Nepal, Madhu KC said people should not be attacked in their feelings based on gender and sexuality. “One should be assured of one’s identity. Human feelings should be respected. We should get the identity of who we are, but not through surgery or taking hormone supplements.”

Surendra Pandey, who recently got their same-sex marriage with Maya Gurung registered legally, said the Mayako Pahichan Nepal was established to raise the voice of the sexual and gender minority people. “We lagged behind when being dependent on others. We must act for ourselves.”

The sexual and gender minorities should have the right to choose their identity as third gender women or men on government-issued documents, he said while rejecting the idea of changing sex.

Nirmala Adhikari, joint secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, said there is the lack of clarity in laws due to the lack of sufficient study and research on the sexual and gender minority communities. There is no problem in issuing a citizenship certificate under ‘other’ categories, she claimed.

Undersecretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Ekdev Adhikari said the ministry was listing the complications associated with citizenship. The citizenship procedure to facilitate the acquisition of citizenship certificate is in the final stage, he informed. Getting a citizenship card under ‘other’ category is easier, he said, adding that there is no provision in the Citizenship Act regarding sex change.

The lack of legal education has made the matter worse, he admitted. “Even at the ministry level, the employees have not got much orientation. Orientation should be provided at every levels.”

The procedure would be amended to resolve the practical problems facing the sexual and gender minorities in obtaining a citizenship certificate, he said, adding, “There is no problem in issuing a citizenship card to the sexual and gender minorities under ‘other’ categories. But the problem comes when it comes to changing sex.”

Likewise, Laxmi Prasad Gautam, Joint Secretary of the Federal Parliament, stressed the need for implementing the provisions made to ensure the constitutional rights of the sexual and gender minorities. He called for providing reservations for the communities in the civil service, election and labor act.

Bam Bahadur Baniya, Vice Chair of the National Child Rights Council, said the report of the Council had yet to accommodate the issue of the children of the sexual and gender minorities due to the additional complexity in their identity. He called for making special arrangements to protect the people from the communities.