Antarlingi: Intersex voices from Nepal
Esan Regmi, an intersex man and LGBTI activist from Nepal, has assembled a collection of narratives by community members who participated in the country’s 1st Intersex National Meeting, held on 8-9 February 2016 in Kathmandu. The meeting was organised by Regmi and Parsu Ram Rai from the Blue Diamond Society, with support from the Being LGBTI in Asia initiative. Rai and Jensen Byrne have contributed to translation and review, respectively.
[T]his meeting brought 13 intersex people together for the first time. We were all of different ages, genders, sexual orientations and intersex variations, but we were united in our experience of being intersex – Esan Regmi
The collection describes challenges experienced by the intersex community in Nepal, including intersex genital mutilation as a growing practice, lack of access to necessary health care for those experiencing health difficulties as a result of their intersex variation, challenges in amending name and gender markers on birth certificates and academic transcripts, in addition to discrimination within families, schools and employment. Notably, some of the reservations in employment available to women and transgender people are not available to intersex people.
At least two of the individuals – Amar and Arjun – who have contributed to the collection face medical issues requiring surgery that their families are not able to afford. If you would like to help defray some of the costs, please contribute to the crowd-funding drive initiated by Esan.
Regmi, Esan (2016). Stories of Intersex People from Nepal. Kathmandu. Download here.
