Nepal's gays caught between rapes and raids

Sudeshna Sarkar (Indo-Asian News Service)
Kathmandu, August 11
As Kathmandu Police raided eight so-called massage parlours in the
capital and arrested six couples caught in compromising positions,
another branch of the force was rounding up homosexuals.

While 31 people were arrested in the massage parlour raids Monday, 39
gays were picked up from streets, discos and restaurants and put
behind bars. By Tuesday evening, at least one person arrested in the
parlour raids was released but none of the gays. Not even a detainee
who had a finger reportedly broken in a baton blow by the police.

Sunil Pant, founder and president of Blue Diamond Society, a
Kathmandu-based gay rights organisation, fears this is part of a
concerted effort by militant anti-gay groups and individuals to stamp
out the recently started gay movement in Nepal.

"In the patriarchal Nepalese society, any male person not conforming
to accepted norms of masculine behaviour is deemed unworthy and
available for exploitation," says Pant.

"Though Nepal has a significant homosexual population, the community
has been in the closet for a long time due to social stigma and
oppression.

"Their invisibility lifted to some degree since 2000 when Blue
Diamond Society started working with male homosexuals on HIV and AIDS
as part of the AIDS control policy of the government.

"But now there is a backlash from a section of society still holding
on to a mediaeval mindset."

Pant cites a string of incidents where 'metis', or men with feminine
characteristics, have been subjected to abuse and violence. Many of
these incidents, he adds, show active participation by government
agencies, like police and security forces.

One of the most serious attacks occurred last week when a gay was
abducted from the streets in the early hours of the morning, raped,
slashed in the throat and left bleeding on the road. He is still in
hospital. No one has been arrested.

In June, three men were picked up and taken to a guesthouse where
they were raped at knifepoint and assaulted. Though police arrested
two people, the case is still pending.

For Pant, as worrisome as the attacks is a writ petition filed by a
lawyer last month. The petition is against the government, alleging
it is allowing people's morals to be corrupted by not closing down
Blue Diamond Society. The Supreme Court, where the writ petition as
been filed, has asked the government to show cause why the society
should not be closed down.

Pant says the attacks against the gay community are being monitored
by several foreign diplomats whose governments are concerned at the
anti-gay, anti-liberal sentiments and government complicity.

Currently, he is trying to mobilise a signature campaign and is
asking people to send letters to various ministerial and police
departments.

"The government needs to stand up to its commitment to human rights,"
Pant says. "They (needs to) treat all Nepalese, including métis, with
dignity."

--Indo-Asian News Service

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