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Mitini Initiative

Press meeting on marriage equality

On February 5, 2023, Mitini Nepal organized a press conference for marriage equality was held in Kathmandu, Bagmati Province,…

Press meeting on marriage equality

On February 5, 2023, Mitini Nepal organized a press conference for marriage equality was held in Kathmandu, Bagmati Province, with the support of Global Fund for Women. Mitini Nepal has been working for the protection, prosperity and development of the human rights of sexual and gender minority communities for the past two decades. The Supreme Court legalized same-sex relationships and issued an order to live together in 2012, at the initiative of Mitini Nepal, but there is still no legal document certifying this relationship, and the community is experiencing many problems. The community is also deprived of the right to marriage in the context of not being able to enjoy basic human rights. Laxmi Ghalan, President of Mitini Nepal, said that the community’s right to marriage is not only related to relationship but also to identity. They also said that the community does not demand separate rights, but it is necessary to create laws in accordance with the spirit and spirit of the constitution and to revise and amend discriminatory laws. Sabin Shrestha, advocate of the Women’s Law and Development Forum, says that Section 67 of the Civil Code, 2074, states that men and women accept each other as husband and wife, which does not address the community’s right to marry. On December 5th, Mitini Nepal and Women’s Law and Development Forum jointly filed a petition in the respected Supreme Court demanding the creation of a law for marriage equality, with the Government of Nepal, the Ministry of Law and the Federal Parliament as the opposition. In the same context, on the 20th day of Poush 2079, accordingly, it was informed through a press conference that the first hearing of the Constitutional Court was completed on January 4, 2023, and in which the Honorable Supreme Court demanded a show cause order. At the end of the press conference, the media workers of various media houses raised questions and inquiries, which were answered by Sarita K.C., the executive director of Mitini Nepal, saying that the right to marriage equality is linked to community identity, the right to property, and the right to adopt a child. She said that the media will play an important role in the community’s marriage equality campaign. Aarti Chataut, a media worker, facilitated the press conference, which was attended by 41 persons, including media workers from various media outlets and Nepalese delegates.