This election was unquestionably the most inclusive that Nepal has ever seen, with appropriate representation of women, minority ethnic groups, and candidates who were disabled or from sexual minorities. And as a consequence Nepal now has its first openly gay parliamentarian, gay rights activist and chairman of the Blue Diamond Society, Sunil Pant. I have only ever heard positive comment on Sunil and must admire the courage of those who could dare to be themselves in such a discriminatory, conservative society. I wish him well in his political career and I am sure that he will have a valuable input to the drafting of the new constitution. I can't help wondering though what my commentator that I mentioned in my post of 17th April makes of this development. Perhaps it is just as well that I have disabled the comments facility on this blog.
Last evening I attended the wedding reception of the brother of my colleague, Bhaskar Karki. Bhaskar is the general manager of Himalayan Mosaics and I was touched that he had also invited the Himalayan Mosaics (former circus) girls to the evening. It is probably unheard of for these survivors of girl trafficking to attend a gathering that included in its number the commander of the Nepalese army. Bhaskar probably has done more for the girls' self-esteem and sense of acceptance than the Trust could ever do.
