This year on May 17 – International Day Against Queerphobia, youth queer activists from Nepal have worked to release a landmark charter for the country. National Charter of Demands on Legal Recognition of Gender Identity has created a history in Nepal. National and Regional organizations, groups, networks as well as individuals worked together to put this historic document together. The conversation on gender identity in Nepal was very limited to just ‘third gender’. This charter of demands not only includes the needs of intersex persons, binary transgender men and women, non-binary people and people who’d like to opt out mentioning a gender, but also strongly stands against the “Others” gender provision and its shortcomings, talks about issues of gender data collection & sensitivity, language, pronouns, privacy, etc. The charter also asked to differ between ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ which in the Others gender provision was murky.

The charter was endorsed by eleven national organizations. Four regional organizations also endorsed the charter, including Intersex Asia, ILGA Asia, Asia Pacific Transgender Network, and Youth Voices Count. Thirty-three individuals also endorsed the statement, including several LGBTIQ+ activists, healthcare professionals, artists, and youth leaders. A preview of the national charter of demands can be found below: