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(Katmandu) Nepal's LGBT rights organization Blue
Diamond Society is calling for a government investigation into allegations
soldiers are threatening lesbians in the capital Katmandu.
The women, all members of a Blue Diamond support
group, have been running a small grocery store in an affluent area of the city,
not far from the home of the Prime Minister and other government leaders.
Most of the women have been disowned by their
families once it became known they are lesbians. Because of their
sexuality many businesses refuse to hire them. The women say the tiny
store is their only means of support.
They say that men claiming to be soldiers of the
Royal Nepalese Army routinely harass and threaten them. The men identify themselves
as "RNA soldiers stationed at the Baluwatar base".
For the past month they have gone to the store,
often drunk, and attempt to proposition the women, Blue Diamond says.
The women complain that the men are often drunk
and verbally abusive when they are rejected. Several have left threatening
messages on the store's phone.
“The women are very scared of these men and phone
calls especially after the recent Nagarkot incident,” said Blue Diamond
spokesperson Sunil
Pant, referring to the incident less than a week ago when a soldier went
berserk, gunned down 11 civilians at a fair and himself died under mysterious
circumstances.
Pant said Blue Diamond wants an investigation
into the abuse by the Army and the government.
The mountainous kingdom between India and Tibet
has a long history of oppressing gays. For lesbians in a country that
traditionally diminishes women the situation has been particularly difficult.
In 2004 police in Kathmandu rushed a peaceful
demonstration of gays seeking equal rights beating the protestors and dispersing
the crowd. (story)
The demonstration, in front of the Himalayan
nation's Parliament, the Singha Durbar, had been organized by the Blue Diamond
Society. The protestors had gathered to submit a petition to the Prime Minister
calling for an end to laws against gay sex and for civil rights.
In April, police in Kathmandu attacked a group of
transgender people. (story)
©365Gay.com 2005
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