Pant: Maoist attitudes are changing toward sexual and gender minorities
Sunil Babu Pant, a gay man who recently made history by winning a seat in Nepal’s parliament, recently gave an interview to Gay City News about his election and the country’s changing attitude toward the LGBT community.
“There has been a significant change in the Maoist attitude toward sexual and gender minorities. I and the BDS had many meetings, dialogues, and orientations with several parties, including the Maoists. And this year, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the Nepali Congress Party [the second-largest party in the constituent assembly], and the Communist Party-(United) all included LGBT rights in their election manifestos.”
Pant, 35, founded gay rights group the Blue Diamond Society in 2002. In the most recent election, ten candidates from the organization sought public office, eight of whom were transgender.
