Kathmandu: A debate has erupted with the sexual and gender minorities (SGM) of Nepal regarding the necessity of gender reassignment or hormone therapy for SGM identification.

This issue has divided the SGM community. Some SGM organisations like Blue Diamond Society have been promoting these procedures while others like Mayako Pahichan Nepal (MKPN), and some community members have been opposing them, citing potential health risks. They have advocated for the validity of the third gender identity without medical intervention.

Hony Maharjan, third gender, took to social media and questioned whether it is necessary to undergo these medical options to be considered SGM while objecting to these procedures.

He hit out at the misconception that SGM members must undergo these procedures and wear feminine clothing for identification. Maharjan, secretary of a SGM organisation, Samarpan Savya Samaj Nepal, urged an end to campaigns promoting these treatments.

“Third gender is a word that has been around for ages. Trans woman is a word imported from abroad,” the community members, who have objected to these procedures, “Some SGM organisations have launched a campaign supporting these treatments for their personal interests.”
One should not go for these procedures for SGM identity, they said.

In reply to a post made by Samarpan Savya Samaj, Babudhumi Rai said a person’s gender identity should not be solely defined by clothing, hormones or surgery.

US grant to run hormone clinics

Some SGM organisations, including BDS, the Federation of Sexual and Gender Minorities, Nepal (FSGMN), Cruiseaids Nepal, and Mitini Nepal, have been accused of promoting gender reassignment and hormone therapy for personal gains with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

They have also been changed with trying to eliminate the existence of third gender in Nepal by forcing SGM members into these procedures.

In coordination with these organisations, the Family Planning Association of Nepal has run hormone clinics across the country, it has been reported. These SGM organisations supporting these treatments are found to be luring and sending SGM members to these clinics for medical intervention.

Community reform activist Debendra Bahadur Khatri said gender identity should not be dependent on medical intervention. “It is wrong to believe that one must undergo surgery and hormone therapy for identification. It is because in primitive times, when humans were born, there was no such thing like surgery and hormone therapy, but they existed.”

Surendra Pandey, whose first same-sex marriage was registered with Maya Gurung, accused that some SGM organisations were trying to remove the existence of third gender by forcing SGM members into gender reassignment and hormone therapy. He called for all to come together against these procedures.

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