LGBT community marks Pride Month with hope and fear
The month of June is internationally recognized as the LGBT Pride Month. The month-long celebrations are aimed at fighting for equal rights, increasing social visibility, and celebrating sexual and gender diversity. June was selected as the Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall riots of 28 June, 1969, following a police raid in Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. These riots would became an impetus for Pride marches.
In Nepal, no such declaration of Pride Month has been made and queer events have only recently started garnering social attention. Nepal nonetheless has a vibrant queer community. Culturally, cross-dressing and transgender people have always existed in Nepal. Transgender women (called ‘metis’ in Nepali) were traditionally believed to ward off evil spirits at wedding ceremonies or at childbirth. Among the Gurungs, there is a tradition of men dressing up as women and performing the maaruni dance.
In 2007 Nepal government legalized homosexuality, cross-dressing and began allowing a third gender option on documents. And yet, twelve years on, discussion on gender and sexual diversity is not only scarce but also prejudiced.
In order to change this state of affairs, a few organizations host rallies for LGBT awareness and social inclusion. The Blue Diamond Society (BDS) first organized the Gaijatra International Pride Parade in Nepal for Nepali LGBT community in 2010. Held in Kathmandu, it also saw participation from various countries and was led by Sunil Babu Pant, the first openly gay member of the Nepali parliament.
Bhakti Shah, an LGBT activist with the BDS, says, “This march is aimed at providing a comfortable climate for any LGBT individual to open up, dress any way they like and to celebrate themselves.” The rally has also attracted some criticism because it is observed on Gaijatra, the day people from the Newar community remember the dead by having young boys dress up as cows. This mingling of the religious and the ‘profane’ has sometimes resulted in open conflict.
As a result of this criticism, other organizations have started hosting their pride marches at other times of the year. For instance, a Queer MOGAI Pride Parade is held in Nepal on 5 May—MOGAI stands for Marginalized Orientation (sexual/romantic), Gender alignments (identity/ expressions) and Intersex bodily variations. Another pride parade was organized by Mitini Nepal alongside the international One Billion Rising campaign in Kathmandu on 14 February this year. In addition, this year the Queer Youth Group organized a Queer/MOGAI/LBTI women pride to encourage women from diverse sexual orientations, as well as intersex and transgender women to come out.
The Blue Diamond Society’s Shah wants the government to formulate and implement inclusive policies that give equal rights to the marginalized LGBT community.
After homosexuality was decriminalized in Nepal in 2007, the 2015 constitution was also praised for its inclusiveness and LGBT-friendliness. Article 12 states that people have the right to citizenship with their preferred gender. Article 18 prohibits any discrimination based on sex, gender or sexual orientation. It also makes provisions for special protections provided by law and gender neutral terms instead of previously used ‘male’ or ‘female’. The constitution allows gender and sexual minorities the right to access public services.
However, as Shah points out, the new Nepali Civil Code that came into effect in August 2018 identifies marriage only between opposite sexes. In addition, it states that no one should marry or help someone marry with a lie or lies based on the ambiguity of sexual organs or lack thereof. Many activists have spoken against this and deemed the code unconstitutional.
The laws are also not accommodating to non-cisgender people as it might be to cisgender people (whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex). Activist Rukshana Kapali, a transgender woman, was denied admission into Tribhuvan University for her Masters’ degree. Kapali had different names in her School Leaving Certificate and +2 certificates, which were prepared before and after her coming out respectively. Shortly, the hashtag ‘#TransExclusionistTU’ was trending on Twitter.
Such difficulties of queer people is exactly why Kapali stresses the need for Pride celebrations. “Pride makes us visible. While it is a moment for queer people to have fun, it is also an opportunity for our voices to be heard. At least people get to know that we exist. ”
Social acceptance is still problematic. Kapali says most people of the older generation find it hard to understand queer identities. Even among the younger generation, she says, bullying of queer people is rampant. “However, I am hopeful that things will change with increased visibility, social awareness and advocacy for queer acceptance and equality.”
Misery-filled retelling of an epic
The first thematic production of Karman, “Klesha: Ananta Pida Ko Jal”, tries to unearth the reasons for our misery and tribulations. The play, based on rural Nepal, has chapters of the epic creation of sage Valmiki, “The Ramayana”, but without its religious aspects.
Writer Pratikshya Kattel tries to explore the multiple ways Ramayana fascinated her. She says she used to ask herself: What caused the bloodshed? Why did Lord Ram and Ravan play the game of life and death? Kattel arrives at the conclusion that the only reason for this hostility, and in fact all hostilities in the world, is misery.
The set features a typical Nepali terrain and the characters dress in daura suruwal and guniyo cholo. The play starts as a group of characters descend on the stage with flaming torches in their hands, accompanied by the sound of live music.
The villagers are livid with their Mahanta Devdatta (Pratik Maratha) for his unjust decision against their common daughter Kaanchi (Ruju Sharma). Kaanchi is a young Nepali girl who falls in love with Devdatta’s brother Anuj. A section of the play displays their love story; their story ends on a sad note as Anuj deceives her when she gets pregnant.
In fact, Anuj beats Kaanchi so badly that she miscarries. The pivotal character of Kaanchi does not have many dialogues and is yet able to amply express her agony through her phenomenal acting skills and expressions. Plotting on a revenge against Devdatta and his family, the villagers kidnap Bhumi (Surakshya Panta), Devdatta’s wife, who is completely unaware of what is happening around her.
The play also comprises of humorous characters like Balram (Swapnil Ghimire), who becomes the veritable Hanuman from the epic as he acts as a messenger for Devdatta and Bhumi. Vidhan (Toofan Thapa) and Jitbahadur ( Jivannath Paudel) time and again light up the mood of the auditorium.
Klesha is all about the agony of Kaanchi, the selfishness of Anuj, the ignorance of Devdatta, the innocence of Bhumi, the fury of Rudra, and the joyfulness of Balram. In the process of taking revenge, the villagers get trapped into a vicious circle. The 1h 45mins play at Mandala Theatre runs till June 23, at 5:30 pm, every day except Mondays.
An ode to their fans
‘Sabin Rai and the Pharaoh’ released their first studio album “Dhanyabad” this week at Tangalwood and the band’s fans can’t thank them enough for the music they’re distributing for free through Facebook and other digital music platforms.
The seven-track album is an ode to the band’s fans and supporters, the band says, and it has been made completely free to reach out more to their audience. “We do not want to reserve the album and wait for our listeners to buy it,” says Binod Lama Tamang, drummer and manager of Sabin Rai and the Pharaoh.
“We want our fans from all over the world to listen to it right now.” The band took over a year to complete the album amid their packed schedule of shows and tours, Binod informs, and all the recording, mixing and mastering was done locally in multiple studios.
In this album, Sabin Rai’s music has advanced technically and it completes his metamorphosis from a pop icon to a rock star. With accomplished musicians in the Pharaoh, Sabin’s style of singing and performing has evolved in virtuosity and the audience can feel the power he packs with the band in his recordings as well as live performances.
Comprising the Pharaoh are John Shrestha on guitars and Jeevan Lama on bass—both good students and educators of music—along with the versatile Nikesh KC on guitars, accompanied by Binod, who is one of the steadiest hands on the drums in the current music scene.
Just two and a half years of playing together as a band has brought them unprecedented success with the band already touring all over Nepal and extensively in India, UK, Bahrain and Australia. “This is the best lineup I have ever performed with,” Sabin tells APEX.
“The guys are extremely talented and supportive. We understand each other perfectly and hence have been able to give our very best in this album”.
Bag-full of happiness
Amid the chaotic frenzy of Narayan Gopal chowk, Chakrapath, the Thaili Café (from Thaili, a small bag-like purse) and Lounge housed in the very first building of the main intersection (towards Basundhara) is like an oasis in the middle of a desert.
Enter Thaili and you’ll be greeted with cool, air-conditioned atmosphere, far removed from the heat and dust outside. Not only will you get a cool place to rest, you also get to choose your favorite dishes from Thaili’s multi-cuisine menu. Sip on various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages while you wait for the food.
For night prowlers, the Thaili also doubles as a lounge and local talents take the stage to woo the audience while they indulge in the good food there.
THE MENU
Chef’s Special:
- Mongolian Chicken
- Spicy Korean Momo
- Thaili Chicken Stir fry
Opening hours: 8 am to 10 am
Location: Narayan Gopal Chowk, Maharajgunj
Cards: Not accepted
Meal for 2: Rs 1,500
Reservations: 9844375951
