Nepal’s Gays Find New Voice
365Gay.com,
January 7, 2005
By 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Kathmandu—Gays struggling for the
most basic human rights in the tiny Himalayan country of Nepal are developing
a sense of community with the launch of the country’s first LGBT newspaper.
The weekly publication will start rolling off the presses
later this month. It is being funded by the British Embassy and will be
prepared and distributed by the Blue Diamond Society, Nepal’s gay rights
group.
Blue Diamond Weekly will be printed in both English and
Nepalese and provide information about the struggle for gay rights along with
information on HIV/AIDS. It will not be “controversial” the Society
says—an effort not to incur the wrath of censors or the government.
Nepal has refused to recognize the civil rights of gays
in the country and does not provide HIV information on male to male
transmission of the virus.
Last year 39 members of the Blue Diamond Society were
jailed after police rushed a peaceful demonstration for gay rights in front of
the Parliament building. They were released three weeks later following an
international outcry.
Most of Nepal’s gays are closeted and many are
persecuted by their own family members. The firing of gays from their jobs is
commonplace once an employer discovers the worker’s sexuality.
Blue Diamond had been allowed to distribute information
about HIV and gay sex but began a crackdown last year after a petition was
filed in the Supreme Court against the government accusing it of abetting
immoral activities by permitting the society to function.
The case will be heard on Jan 18, just days before the
first copies of the gay weekly roll out.
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