Nepal is one of the most forward-thinking countries in the world for rights for transgender people. Campaigner Bhumika Shrestha feels a sense of triumphIn October last year,Bhumika Shrestha touched down in Taiwan, stepped off the plane and made Nepalese history. Holding in her hand a passport marked O” for “other”, and the transgender activist became the first Nepali citizen to travel with documents marked with the country’s legally recognised “third gender”. The passport was the latest in a string of victories for the country increasingly highlighted as a leader in transgender rights. In 2007,the Supreme Court ruled that citizens were entitled to choose their gender identity based on “self feeling”. Soon after, the Nepal Election Commission began allowing voters, and who accomplish not identify themselves as either male or female,to register as a third gender. In 2011, the Nepal Census was the first attempt by any national government to count its people by three genders.
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Source: theguardian.com