Same-sex marriage in Nepal

Same-sex marriage is not recognized or performed in Nepal. In 2011 and 2012, as the nation was undergoing a transition, there was an attempt to add LGBT-inclusive language to a newly drafted Constitution. However, negotiations among political factions failed in the spring of 2012 and the implementation of an interim constitution was placed on hold until new elections were held.

The new Constitution, approved by the Constituent Assembly on 16 September 2015, includes several provisions pertaining to the rights of LGBT people, but does not address same-sex marriage.

On November 17, 2008, Nepal’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of laws to guarantee full rights to LGBT people, and all gender minorities must be defined as "natural persons" under the law; this included the right to marry. "This is a landmark decision for the sexual minorities and we welcome it," said Sunil Babu Pant, Nepal's first publicly gay lawmaker and a leading gay rights activist in South Asia. The court asked the Government to form a committee to study same-sex partnership laws in other countries and mandated that the new law not discriminate against sexual minorities, including cross-dressing and transgender people.

On March 22, 2009, Pant said in an interview with the Indo-Asian News Service that "Though the court has approved of same-sex marriage, the Government is yet to enact a law," signaling that while a same-sex marriage bill has been ordered by the Supreme Court, it has yet to be drafted or voted on, much less legislated. In June 2009, Pant said the process has just started: "Nepal is going through transition and everything seems to move slowly. The seven-member committee has formed and just started working to study same-sex marriage bills in other countries. Hopefully they will draft the suggestion to make same-sex marriage law soon and give it to the Government to approve."

Several sources reported that same-sex marriage and protections for sexual minorities will be included in the new Nepalese Constitution being drafted. The Interim Constitution provided for a Constituent Assembly, which was charged with writing Nepal's permanent Constitution. Under the terms of the Interim Constitution, the new Constitution was to be promulgated by November 30, 2011, but a final six month extension was granted just before this deadline bringing the date to May 31, 2012. Negotiations on the new Constitution failed and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai dissolved the Constituent Assembly on May 28, 2012 in preparations for the 2013 elections. As a result, the future of same-sex marriage is uncertain.

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Wikipedia