Most sexual and gender minorities, who face social discrimination and family rejection, are not receiving their true identity even from the state.

Their gender identity on their educational certificates, citizenship and other government documents is not only affecting their access, but also repeatedly humiliating them.

Isan Regmi, 36, from Bajura, is an intersex man. Regmi spent his childhood identifying as a girl. As he entered adolescence, his voice deepened and his mustache grew. He began to feel like a man. His neighbors and friends began to treat him differently. The fact that his breasts, which society considered a girl, did not grow became an even bigger problem. “My friends would tease me. My teachers would pinch my breasts. I kept asking myself why I was the only one like this,” says Isan.

After completing his graduation from Bajura, he moved to Kailali in 2068. There, he joined Sudurpaschim Samaj, an organization working for the rights of sexual and gender minority communities. At the same time, he enrolled in Sudurpaschimanchal Campus for postgraduate studies. Although he presented himself as a man, his name on his academic certificate was a woman.

In 2070, Isan, who had gone to Kailali Multiple Campus Center to take his first-year exam, was thrown out of the hall because his identity did not match his certificate. Earlier, in 2068, he had gone to Dipayal, Doti, to take the Nayab Subba exam and was thrown out because he was called a 'fake student'. In 2070, he was also unable to take the teacher service exam due to the same problem.

'I became frustrated after my identity was constantly attacked,' says Isan, 'after that I could not apply anywhere, I dropped out of school.' Everyone had a problem with my male identity, which I couldn't let go of.' Currently, Isan is the executive director of the Campaign for Change, a social organization for intersex people.

The name itself is a joke
It is not easy for people from the gender minority community to establish themselves in society. They have more problems with the name on their citizenship and educational certificates. According to Article 12 of the Constitution of Nepal 2072, every Nepali citizen has the right to citizenship along with their identity. However, contrary to this provision of the constitution, it is not easy for people from the gender minority community to get citizenship according to their identity when making citizenship and passport.

Raj Chaudhary, the president of Ekta Nepal, an organization working for the gender minority community, is also suffering from the same problem. 37-year-old Chaudhary is a trans man. Although he was born with female genitalia, his self-identification is male. His name on his citizenship is 'Rajkumari Chaudhary'. He wants to remove the word 'Kumari', which means female, and the gender reference 'Mahila' from the citizenship.

Last Chaitra, he went to the District Administration Office, Kailali, to correct both his name and gender. But the citizenship department reluctantly sent him to the Area Administration Office, Sukhad. After taking the recommendation from the ward and reaching the area administration, he was told - 'A woman cannot be given citizenship in the name of a man.' 'I went with the recommendation from the ward.' But the head of the office there turned him away saying that this was not possible. I said that there is a provision in the constitution and law, but instead asked - Where did you get such an education?' Raj said.

At that time, Tek Bahadur Rawat was the head of the Area Administration Office, Sukhad. After Raj took the stand that he should get citizenship according to his identity, he was asked to collect a document from the Area Police Office to prove that 'Raj' and 'Rajkumari' were the same person. ‘To correct a citizenship already taken in the name of a woman, a recommendation from the ward, birth certificate and medical report are required. We can only grant citizenship on the basis of the recommendation from the ward and birth certificate,’ Rawat said, ‘Those whose gender is written as ‘other’ in their citizenship should go to the District Administration Office.’ Raj again reached the District Administration Office and met Assistant CDO Kiran Joshi. Joshi assured that he would correct it, but her citizenship has not been corrected yet.

Article 14 of the Nepal Citizenship (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2078 BS provides a procedure for correcting details. According to the procedure, a person who wants to correct any matter mentioned in the details of a Nepali citizenship certificate should apply to the Ministry or the Chief District Officer. The Act states, ‘…if an application is made to correct or amend the details, the Ministry or the Chief District Officer may, after understanding the necessary matters in accordance with Sub-section (2) of Section 17 of the Act, withdraw the previously obtained citizenship certificate and issue another citizenship certificate with amendments.’ Raj’s citizenship, which should have been corrected according to this provision, has been stalled citing legal obstacles.

Isan, who was able to correct his name in the citizenship document but was unable to correct the ‘female’ mentioned in the gender, also says that this process was not easy. He got his name amended in the citizenship document in 2076 BS. However, his wish to remove the ‘female’ from the gender details and put a male was not fulfilled. It was changed to ‘other’ instead.

The ward office was reluctant to recommend Isan for citizenship under the name of a man. Later, on the advice of the CDO, the ward recommended ‘other’ in the gender. While it is easy to correct general details of citizenship, the process of correcting gender details takes a long time, says Kiran Joshi, Assistant Chief District Officer of the District Administration Office, Kailali. Mohan Chandra Joshi, Assistant Chief District Officer of Kanchanpur, says that the decision to correct gender details in citizenship should be taken by the Council of Ministers.

The problem in health services
For people in the ‘trans men, trans women and intersex’ groups, the conflict within their own bodies is not only intense. Most people in society cannot even imagine that men menstruate. But trans men menstruate like women. During menstruation, they neither come out openly nor can they take care of their health confidently.

Another trans man from Kailali, Arjun (name changed), also shares the same experience. ‘When men are seen at other times, they tease me during menstruation. If someone sees a pad in my bag, I should be humiliated.’ If you go to the hospital with a stomach ache, you should be humiliated in the hospital,' he said. Public structures, toilets, hospitals, everything is against their identity. Arjun says that he does not even drink water for fear of facing discrimination in the toilet while traveling long distances.

An anonymous life
Saraswati (name changed) 27-year-old from Achham revealed her gender identity at the age of 19. She says, 'Since childhood, I wanted to dress and decorate like a girl, but I could not due to fear of society. After turning 19, I presented myself as a woman when I was outside the house.' Now 27, she still dresses as a man when she is at home.

Her family is aware of her identity and desires. However, she is not allowed to become a woman for fear that her neighbors and society will say, 'I used to be a boy, how could I suddenly become a girl?' ‘They said, “If you become a woman, we will not give you a share and we will throw you out of the house.” Where can you go when you have nothing,’ she says, ‘They said, “If you become a son and bring a daughter-in-law to the house, you will get property only,” but you don’t need property.’ Saraswati also had to drop out of campus due to discrimination. ‘You have to listen to indigestible words from within your own family, nothing from outsiders,” she said.

Sameer (name changed), a trans man from Kanchanpur, was known as a woman for 20 years. After turning 21, he started being attracted to women. No matter how much he tried to become a woman from the outside, his heart did not accept it. Finally, he told himself, “I am a man.”

When his daughter’s behavior suddenly started changing, her mother would ask, “Why are you acting like a boy? Why did you cut your hair short?” Are the clothes the same?' Initially, he ran away from his mother's question, but finally told his family that he was a man from the heart. Then Sameer was scolded for having a deity. 'The family is ready to lose me, but they are not ready to accept my existence,' Sameer said.

Even though Sameer secretly married his girlfriend four years ago, he did not bring this matter out of fear of society. Some time ago, there was talk of marriage in the girl's family. They said that they were in a relationship and had already married. However, both families did not accept this relationship. Finally, in Chait last year, while fleeing and entering India through Dhangadhi, the police stopped them. After questioning, both families were called and taken into custody.

After this incident, Sameer's family locked him in a room. The phone was taken away. Dhami and Jhakri were made to appear. Desperate by these incidents, Sameer drank poison. But after getting timely treatment, his life was saved. Sameer says, ‘I became mentally ill after seeing the behavior of my own family. Is it a crime to reveal my identity and try to live freely?’ Sameer now has only one dream. To bring his girlfriend home. But when...? He does not have the answer to this question.

Impact on mental health
Discrimination, constant struggle and humiliation suffered from society, family and the state seriously affect mental health, says neuropsychiatrist Dr. Ramprasad Lamichhane. Most people from sexual and gender minority communities are suffering from serious mental problems. But they do not get support from their families. In some ‘cases’, parents go to doctors to ask for medicine that makes them like boys, saying that they like girls.

‘If they are women, they like men, and if they are men, they say that they should give them medicine that makes them like women.’ "They don't accept their children's self-identification," said Dr. Lamichhane. "They tend to get angry when we explain." Most sexual and gender minority patients who come to the hospital come with the help of organizations. Dr. Lamichhane has the experience of receiving very few 'cases' brought by families while providing services.

According to the statistics of Ekta Nepal, 38 percent of this community in Nepal has experienced unequal treatment from doctors. Dr. Lamichhane says that unequal treatment occurs because all employees of health institutions do not know about them.

Law limited to paper
The Citizenship Act, 2063 (Amendment) has made a provision to grant citizenship on the basis of gender identity. It mentions that 'transgender' people can obtain citizenship by mentioning 'other' gender. But in practice, it is complicated. In Nepal, there is a practice of making citizenship only according to the birth certificate. Due to this, it is difficult for people with different identities to obtain citizenship according to their real identity.

This is because, since citizenship is obtained based on the birth certificate, the gender that the parents have written at that time is also written on the citizenship. Apart from that, due to social and family pressure until the age of 16 (the age of citizenship), sexual and gender minorities are not in a position to openly protest for their self-identification. When they are able to live independently, the hassle of correcting their name and gender in the citizenship arises.

Although Article 12 of the Constitution provides for Nepali citizens to obtain citizenship with identity, there is a problem in the lack of clarity about sexual and gender minorities, said Dr. Shashi Adhikari, a professor at Nepal Law Campus.

Another reason why people from sexual and gender minority communities do not obtain citizenship based on identity is patriarchal thinking. Which is not able to accept an existence other than women and men. When asked about some people obtaining citizenship with identity based on this article of the Constitution, Dr. Adhikari says, ‘Those who have access are getting it.’ Those who do not have access, it is difficult .’

Adhikari says that there is a more serious problem in the law related to marriage . The Civil Code (Code) Act, 2074 BS has a provision related to marriage . In which it is mentioned that ‘a man and a woman accept each other as husband and wife through any festival, ceremony, formal or any other act, it shall be considered a marriage’ . According to this act, marriage should be between a man and a woman . There is no mention of others . The act does not even define the definition of same-sex marriage, let alone the word .

After the Supreme Court ordered the registration of same-sex marriages in some cases, marriages have been registered on that basis . ‘But still, the issue of sexual minorities has not been raised in the amendment proposal to the Civil Code,’ says Dr. Adhikari . Jhankar Bahadur Rawal, Deputy Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission Sudurpaschim Province Office, said that this community has not been able to enjoy the rights granted by the constitution .

What are the local and provincial governments doing
The Sudurpaschim Provincial Government has issued the ‘Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Policy 2081’. The policy covers all genders and communities as well as marginalized and backward communities. Under this, the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Steering Committee, Policy Implementation and Monitoring Committee and Local Social Inclusion Committee have also been formed.

However, despite the policy being made, it has not been implemented, says Nirang Chaudhary, President of Sudurpaschim Samaj. ‘Making a policy is not a big deal, the main thing is the implementation aspect, which is very weak,’ he said.
The Sudurpaschim Provincial Government has not brought any program targeting this community in the budget for the fiscal year 2082/83.

In the fiscal year 2079/80, the budget was allocated Rs 3 lakh and in 2080/81, Rs 1 million. But Bindu Kumari Chataut, the ‘JC Focal Person’ of the Ministry of Social Development, said that nothing more has been done with this amount except for interaction programs with sexual and gender minorities and stakeholders.

Most municipalities in Kailali and Kanchanpur have also formulated gender equality and inclusion policies. However, the work has not been as good as that of the provincial government. Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan City has allocated Rs 200,000 for this community in the budget for the fiscal year 2082/83. Dhangadhi Deputy Mayor Kandakala Rana says that the municipality is coordinating with organizations working for the welfare of this community.

She says that free stalls have been arranged at Saturday’s fair to lift this community out of poverty. However, she said that no one from the sexual and gender minority community came to set up a stall at the fair. ‘They have a problem coming out openly. But we have called for it,’ she says.

Dhangadhi and Godavari municipalities in Kailali have implemented local curricula in schools. This curriculum, which is taught from grades 1 to 8, includes information about sexual and gender minorities, said Ghuman Singh Badayak, branch officer of the Education, Youth and Sports Division of the sub-metropolitan city.

But Ganga Awasthi, a health teacher at Panchodaya Secondary School in Dhangadhi, says that there is only a definition in the book about sexual and gender minorities. ‘This is not enough,’ says Awasthi, ‘What are their problems? What are the challenges they face?’ This is not included in the curriculum. We have to find out and teach it.’ The curriculum only includes one lesson on sexuality education. She believes that this does not cover comprehensive sexuality.

On the other hand, Bhimdatta Municipality in Kanchanpur has included it in its policy, but has not brought any concrete program targeting this community. Kuntikumari Lekhak, the municipality's women development officer, says that no program could be implemented due to lack of budget.

Bhimdatta Municipality had tried to collect data on this community two years ago. The author herself was a participant in it. No one was ready to reveal their identity and provide their details in the census initiated by the municipality. The author said that even after the municipality collected data from organizations working in this area, it was incomplete.

Sumitra Gurung, the women development inspector at Shikhar Municipality in Doti, also has the same experience as the author. 'We had tried to collect data. But, no one came forward to say that they belong to this community. It would have been easier to work if the municipality had come in contact.' Some municipalities have allocated budget for this community as per the Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) policy, but when no one comes in contact, that budget is spent elsewhere.

Many people remain silent for fear of facing further socio-cultural difficulties if they come out openly, says Mandira Shrestha, Information Officer of the National Human Rights Commission Sudurpaschim. She suggests that data should be collected by gaining their trust in the coordination and cooperation of organizations working in this field.

Shrestha says that sexual and gender minority communities have not been able to exercise their constitutional rights. “There is no coordination between the three levels of government even on general issues like citizenship based on identity and registration of same-sex marriage,” she said. Dharmaraj Pathak, a member of the Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly and chairman of the Social Development Committee, admitted that while the governments of all three levels should prioritize the issues of minorities, this has not happened.

Rights activist Goma Acharya emphasizes that before working to remove the weeds by allocating quotas for sexual and gender minorities, the local government should work to change the society’s attitude towards them. "Even if the discrimination against sexual and gender minorities by the family can be reduced, half of the problem will be solved," she said. "If the family is supportive, the self-confidence to fight society will come. ."