?We have done it and proved that we can do,? added Pant, a former member of parliament.
Homosexuality is still taboo in Nepal, which does not have clear laws about the rights of the increasingly assertive gay community.
Same sex marriages have taken place in public but wedding certificates are not given by authorities as there are no laws that recognise such unions. People found guilty of ?unnatural sex? face up to one year in jail.
Until about six years ago, homosexuals were beaten on the streets of Kathmandu and arrested.
?Personal attitudes in the conservative society are slowly changing. It is a good thing,? Pant said.
Nepal, home to Mount Everest and the birthplace of Buddha, emerged from 10 years of Maoist conflict in 2006, after which the country began to increasingly recognise the rights of the underprivileged communities.
In 2007, the country?s Supreme Court ordered the government to do away with laws that discriminate against gays and guarantee them the same rights as other citizens.
Gay beauty contests are now organised and held, and gay pride parades have been held in several major cities, including Kathmandu. Early this year, a teenage boy who underwent a sex-change operation in Thailand was welcomed home by his family as the country?s first known transsexual.
Gays still face numerous difficulties. Schools and colleges won?t accept them, and they have trouble getting national identity cards in the gender they prefer.
But ordinary Nepalis were positive about the event.
?I think it is good they have assembled here for the sports tournament,? said a 24-year-old college student Raju Shakya.
?They should be entitled to the same rights as others without discrimination. They are also human beings like us.?
Source: Reuters
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