Entry #563: Right to change legal gender in Nepal

Current Version

RegionNepal
IssueRight to change legal gender
StatusAmbiguous
Start Date2007
End Date(none)
DescriptionOnly to a third gender marker "O"; no changes between male "M" and female "F" permitted. According to ILGA Data, anecdotal evidence suggests that at least one transgender woman has been able to obtain a female gender marker, and one transgender man has obtained a male gender marker. In both situations, evidence of gender affirming medical interventions was required.
Sourceshttps://database.ilga.org/nepal-lgbti
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/nepal-third-gender-ids_n_2533316.html
http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/2839/ER13%20Final%20Onine.pdf?sequence=1
Reports (1)
  • Status is not correct "legal, non restriction : One of the first landmark judicial decisions with regard to legal gender recognition was Sunil Babu Pant and Others v. Nepali Government (2007) where the Supreme Court ruled that the State should provide identity documents that reflect a person’s self-identified gender identity. In this case, the Court held that a ‘third gender’ category should be available. This decision allowed the Nepalese Citizenship Certificates to include male, female and “other” gender markers. However, this last category applies to all those who wish to change their gender marker. In other words, trans people can only have an “O” in their certificate, as there is no possibility to change gender markers from “M” to “F” or vice versa. Anecdotal evidence suggests that at least one transgender woman has been able to obtain a female gender marker, and one transgender man has obtained a male gender marker. In both situations, evidence of gender affirming medical interventions was required. Later, Section 12 of the Constitution of Nepal (2015) was written in such a way that requires the Nepalese Citizenship Certificates to include gender identity (as opposed to just gender). This provision only applies to the first Nepalese Citizenship Certificate issued, not to an already-issued certificate. However, the decision of Sunil Babu Pant, Anik Ranamagar and others v. Government of Nepal (2017), ruled that existing citizenship certificates should also be amended. Nepal began issuing passports with “third gender”/“O” markers, after the Supreme Court decision Dilu Dibuja v. the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2017) ordered that a transgender person should be given a passport that matched their Nepalese Citizenship Certificate. In 2019, Nepal’s House of Representatives proposed a bill to amend the Citizenship Act that would impact the rights of trans persons. The bill proposed an onerous proof of "sex change" as a requirement for a person to obtain a change of gender marker on their Nepalese Citizenship Certificate. This goes in contradiction with the above Supreme Court cases. There have been no updates on this bill since 2020. https://database.ilga.org/nepal-lgbti"


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Revision History (7)

edited by Notdog1996. Ambiguous at best

Old Value New Value (Current)
ValueLegal, but requires medical diagnosis(REMOVED)
Special Status(REMOVED)Ambiguous

edited by Notdog1996. Ambiguous at best

Old Value New Value
Value(REMOVED)Legal, but requires medical diagnosis
Special StatusAmbiguous(REMOVED)

edited by Clara. It requires mediucal diagnosis and evidence of gender affirming care

Old Value New Value

edited by Nathan. Add info

Old Value New Value
Start DateJan 22, 20132007
DescriptionOnly to a third gender marker "O"; no changes between male "M" and female "F" permitted.Only to a third gender marker "O"; no changes between male "M" and female "F" permitted. According to ILGA Data, anecdotal evidence suggests that at least one transgender woman has been able to obtain a female gender marker, and one transgender man has obtained a male gender marker. In both situations, evidence of gender affirming medical interventions was required.
Show Difference
Only to a third gender marker "O"; no changes between male "M" and female "F" permitted. According to ILGA Data, anecdotal evidence suggests that at least one transgender woman has been able to obtain a female gender marker, and one transgender man has obtained a male gender marker. In both situations, evidence of gender affirming medical interventions was required.
Sourceshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/nepal-third-gender-ids_n_2533316.html
http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/2839/ER13%20Final%20Onine.pdf?sequence=1
https://database.ilga.org/nepal-lgbti
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/nepal-third-gender-ids_n_2533316.html
http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/2839/ER13%20Final%20Onine.pdf?sequence=1
Show Difference
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/nepal-third-gender-ids_n_2533316.html http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/2839/ER13%20Final%20Onine.pdf?sequence=1 https://database.ilga.org/nepal-lgbti http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/nepal-third-gender-ids_n_2533316.html http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/2839/ER13%20Final%20Onine.pdf?sequence=1

edited by Markissik. Well, since changes between M and F markers are not available, it's not actually fully legal, so the best status would be Ambiguous

Old Value New Value
ValueLegal, no restrictions(REMOVED)
Special Status(REMOVED)Ambiguous

edited by JordanB3047

Old Value (Original) New Value
ValueLegal, but requires surgeryLegal, no restrictions
DescriptionOnly to a third gender marker "O"; no changes between male "M" and female "F" permitted.

created by iain-w

Original entry
StatusLegal, but requires surgery
Start DateJan 22, 2013
End Date(none)
Description(empty)
Sourceshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/nepal-third-gender-ids_n_2533316.html http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/2839/ER13%20Final%20Onine.pdf?sequence=1
Reports (2)
  • Sources are invalid or broken "huff po article is missing"
  • Status is not correct "Does not require surgery - based on self identification Being LGBT in Asia - Nepal Country Report http://www.asia-pacific.undp.org/content/dam/rbap/docs/Research%20&%20Publications/hiv_aids/rbap-hhd-2014-blia-nepal-country-report.pdf"