The Supreme Court of Nepal ruled in favor of marriage equality by issuing a directive to order the government to ensure equal marriage rights for sexual and gender minorities.
Earlier, in 2023, the same Supreme Court provisionally provisionally recognized marriage equality via an interim ruling. But a group of activists sued over the South Asian country’s marriage laws as it still limited marriage to between a man and a woman. A counter-writ petition was filed by Yuvraj Paudel to oppose this.
This time, the Supreme Court of Nepal issued a binding directive order to the government to establish a separate register of marriages for couples from sexual and gender minority communities.
In an Instagram post, Nepalese LGBTQIA+ rights organization The Blue Diamond Society welcomed the decision, claiming that they’re “excited to witness the next steps from the (g)overnment in translating this ruling into practice.”
From the start of 2026, from nine to 35 LGBTQIA+ couples already wed in Nepal.
