KATHMANDU, January 15, 2007  –  Monday January 8 may have passed as a normal day in Kathmandu.  Yet, inside the Malla Hotel, new grounds were being broken.

For the first time in the recorded history of Nepal, a conference was organized to discuss the constitutional rights of sexual minorities.

For a country like Nepal, which does not find merit in the discourse of sex and sexuality of any kind, this is no little feat.  The conference confirmed the presence of a substantial body of Nepalis who feel that a public discussion of sexual differences is appropriate and that the time is right – as the drafting of the Interim Constitution is underway – for sexual minorities to be represented in the constitution.

The conference, under the title “Nepal’s New Constitution and the Fundamental Rights of Minorities”, was organized by the Blue Diamond Society (BDS).

For many years, BDS has vehemently fought the violence inflicted on the transvestites (Metis) of Nepal.  It has trusted the intensifying rhetoric of human rights to create a culture that is safe for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Increasingly aware that progress in this regard may not materialize without a drastic juridical intervention, the BDS has sought to remind the government of the various international human rights covenants it is obligated to fulfil and persuade the Constitutional Committee that an amendment protecting sexual minorities is a valuable undertaking for the whole society.

This was the primary motive of the conference.

The BDS hoped that bringing in global perspectives on the constitutional recognition of sexual minorities would legitimize its own demands in the eyes of the jurists and advocates who were present at the event.

For this purpose, BDS had invited the perfect candidate to speak: South African Justice Edwin Cameron, who had played an active role in drafting the first constitution in the world to explicitly promise protection from discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation”, and who was also the first openly gay man to serve as judge in the highest court of South Africa.

Justice Cameron came to the conference with a bundle of encouragement and optimism, insisting on the immutability of human and sexual diversity, and entreating his listeners to see that diversity as celebratory.

He contended that the admittance of gays and lesbians is the ultimate measure of a society’s capacity to view humanity in its fullness and of its commitment to equality, justice, secularism, and humane co-existence.

Surmising from the experience of his own country, he felt that the very legacy of injustice should motivate Nepal to create an exceptionally inclusive and generous constitution. A constitution, he argued, should surpass any sectarian or majoritarian interest, embrace difference in its conception of equality, and guarantee every individual the freedom, protection and resources to develop in his/her own unique manner.

In the present situation of Nepal, he sensed an opportunity to create an establishment that is fervently, categorically, and earnestly committed to the well-being of every individual.

Those who listened to Justice Cameron could not escape the thought that the stakes placed by the sexual minorities were not limited to specific questions of rights to privacy and non-discrimination.

The issues were larger, concerning matters of principle, responsibility and civility.  Even those who had reluctantly attended the conference must have been suitably roused.

Honorary guest Justice Laxmi Prasad Aryal, a prominent figure in the juridical history of Nepal and head of the Interim Constitution Drafting Committee, reckoned it wise to conclude that homosexuals, as human beings, deserved acknowledgment by the constitution.

Although many in the audience were identifiably uncomfortable and although major media has deemed the event unworthy of press coverage, there were reasons for the LGBT community to be hopeful.

We do not know what the outcomes will be, but the conference at least demonstrated that it is not entirely chimerical to anticipate Nepalis to learn to share their country with its sexual minorities, and perhaps even to respect the dignity of those manifestly different.

■  Justice Edwin Cameron is the author of  “Witness To Aids” (I.B. Tauris, London, July 2005).  The book is currently out of print, but new copies can be purchased from The Book Depository in UK (£12.73 including shipping - dispatched from stock within 24 hours).  The book is, however, still available on special order from Amazon in the USA ($18 plus shipping - delivery 3-5 weeks).  The title is in its fourth printing in South Africa and can be obtained online through Kalahari (ZAR 117 - £8.22/€12.45 - plus shipping from South Africa @ ZAR 120 to UK)

 Edwin Cameron’s compelling memoir grapples with the meaning of HIV/Aids for him as he confronts the possibility of his own lingering death, and for all of us in facing up to one of the most desperate challenges of our time.  In his intensely personal account of survival, Cameron blends elements of his destitute childhood with his daily duties as a senior judge and international human rights lawyer, while focusing always on the epidemic’s central issues: stigma, unjust discrimination, and, most vitally, the life-and-death question of access to treatment.

“This book will be a major contribution by a courageous South African towards that quest for a better life for all.”  – Nelson Mandela.

LINKS

website