Celebrations as Nepal registers first LGBTQ marriage

KATHMANDU - An LGBTQ couple has acquired a marriage certificate in Nepal, a first in South Asia and hailed by the pair as a win "for all".

Transgender woman Maya Gurung and Surendra Pandey obtained a marriage certificate from a local ward in Nepal's Lamjung district on Wednesday.

"We are very happy and proud. This has finally happened," Gurung told AFP.

The couple held a Hindu marriage ceremony in 2017, and live together with their dog and cat. 

"This is a win not just for us but for all couples like us," she said.

In June, the Supreme Court issued an interim order allowing all same-sex and transgender couples to register their marriages, directing the government to establish a separate temporary register until laws are formulated. 

Gurung and Pandey were the first to apply at the district court, but it refused to register their marriage.

Their appeal was also rejected. 

"We then approached the local authorities, who were much more open to listen," their lawyer Rounik Raj Aryal said.