Activist Rukshana Kapali has spearheaded this landmark win
BY BETHIA WYBORN, IMAGE BY GETTY
Nepal’s Supreme Court has ruled that a trans woman should be recognised as a woman on her legal documents without medical verification in a landmark case.
The ruling has set a precedent for trans rights in Nepal but other transgender people will still need to petition the Court separately to have their gender recognised without medical intervention.
Law student, human rights activist and trailblazer, Rukshana Kapali, has sued the Nepalese government more than 50 times since 2021 to bring rights and recognition to transgender identity.
Kapali wrote in The Diplomat: “Growing up as a trans person in Nepal, I felt confused about how my identity and my country interacted. I kept reading about our amazing reputation for ‘LGBTI rights’ globally, and how in particular on trans rights issues Nepal was a ‘leader’. But when I tried to change my own name and gender marker on my legal documents, I was met with roadblocks, ignorance, and rejection.”
Following a 2007 Supreme Court order, trans people in Nepal could only list themselves as “other” or “third gender”. If they wished to change their gender to “male” or “female” on legal documents they would have to undergo gender-affirming surgery in another country and then receive invasive examinations in Nepal.
Even people who are attempting to obtain documents marked “other” are subjected to this humiliating and unnecessary medical scrutiny, according to Human Rights Watch.
Using her experience as a law student, Kapali continues to travel to High Courts across Nepal to file cases on behalf of other trans people. All of the cases that have reached a verdict have so far had a positive outcome.
Kapali told The Himalayan Times: “I am very glad and happy this verdict has finally put an end to the discrimination and stigmatisation I faced everywhere I went. My life is going to be easy from now on.”
DIVA magazine celebrates 30 years in print in 2024. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
