Painted on a wall outside our office in Dhumbarahi is a mural that depicts the historic 2007 Supreme Court decision to issue citizenship with ‘other’ as a category of gender identity. With this mural, passersby can be reminded of the diversity of the LGBTI community in Nepal and the importance of celebrating identity in all its forms. The description of the mural is as follows:
Naming Their Individuality
The mural depicts the rights and freedom granted to individuals identifying as gender minorities to express their gender identity on legal documents as ‘Other’ based on their ‘self-feeling’ irrespective of their sex assigned at birth. The mural represents freedom, inclusivity, and recognition given to individuals who identify themselves as ‘Third Gender’ so that they can live a life free of stigma, violence, and discrimination.
In 2007, Nepal’s Supreme Court made a decision to issue citizenship with ‘Other’ as a category of gender identity for those who do not identify with the binaries of male and female. However, the issuance of citizenship with ‘Other’ only started in 2013. After 2007, a lot of progressive amendments have been made on policies to create safe, stigma free, and inclusive society for gender minorities in Nepal. The activists have fought successfully to have the ‘Other’ category added to passports, public bathrooms, and even federal election.
In the mural, the central image of ‘O’ has multiple hands emerging out of it carrying a document written ‘O’ signifying the ‘Other’ category added to the legal documents representing the third gender. This illustrates the empowerment and freedom of expression provided by the government to the people to identify their gender identity based on their self-feeling. The beam balance in the middle background signifies justice provided to the third gender. THe words LGBTI are written on the left and the right side of the ‘O’ painted at the center in Ranjana Lipi – a Brahmi script. The blue color of the beam balance and the blue doves on the background represent freedom of expression that came with these decisions and policies. multicolor stripes on the background represent the pride colors symbolizing the diversity of LGBTI community.
This is an initiative by Ujyalo Foundation for 16 Days of Activism against Gender BAsed Violence 2017. This year, we took a look into the history and painted three murals remarking the monumental events that happened in women’s and LGBTI movement in NEpal. The title of this initiative is ‘Oranging the History: Remembering the Brave and the Forgottens”. The murals are painted in orange to represent the symbolic orange color that illustrates a bright future without violence for women and girls.
The other two murals are located in Bansbari and Kupondole. The partner of this initiative is the Australian Government and paint partner is Asian Paints Nepal.