Sunil Babu Pant
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Sunil Babu Pant (; born 28 June 1971) is a Nepali human rights activist, monk, and former politician who served as a member of the
Nepalese Constituent Assembly The Second Constituent Assembly of Nepal, later converted to the Legislature Parliament (), was a unicameral legislature of Nepal. It was elected in the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections after the failure of the first Constituent Assembly (CA ...
between 2008 and 2013. Pant's campaigning for LGBT rights led to the
Supreme Court of Nepal The Supreme Court of Nepal () is the highest court in Nepal. It is designated as the court of record by the Constitution of Nepal. It has appellate jurisdiction over decisions of the seven High Courts (including eleven Benches of the High Cour ...
giving legal recognition to Nepal's
third gender Third gender or third sex is an identity recognizing individuals categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither a man nor a woman. Many gender systems around the world include three or more genders, deriving the concept either from ...
in addition to decriminalising homosexuality and permitting
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
. In 2021, Pant converted to
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and began training as a monk, going by the name Bhikshu Kashyap.


Early life

Pant was born into a
Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
family in
Gorkha District Gorkha District (), a part of Gandaki Province, is one of seventy-seven districts of Nepal, and the fourth largest district of the country in terms of area. It is historically linked with the creation of modern Nepal and the name of the legenda ...
,
Gandaki Province Gandaki Province ( ) ), is one of the seven federal provinces established by the current constitution of Nepal which was promulgated on 20 September 2015. Pokhara is the province's capital city. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region in Southw ...
, Nepal. He graduated from Laxmi Secondary School in Gorkha before obtaining a master's degree in computer science from the
Belarusian State University The Belarusian State University (BSU) (, ; ) is a university in Minsk, Belarus. It was founded on October 30, 1921. The university was ranked 387th in the world in the 2023 QS World University Rankings. History 1919–1949 On February 25, 1919, ...
in
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
. He subsequently enrolled at
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Sai Kung District, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991, it was the territory's third institution to be granted university status, and the firs ...
but dropped out after six months, instead volunteering to help victims of the
1999 Odisha cyclone The 1999 Odisha cyclone ( IMD designation BOB 06, JTWC designation 05B) was the most intense recorded tropical cyclone in the North Indian Ocean and among the most destructive in the region. The 1999 Odisha cyclone organized into a tropi ...
.


Activism

Pant came out publicly at the age of 29, and in 2001 formed the
Blue Diamond Society The Blue Diamond Society (BDS; Nepali: नील हीरा समाज) is an LGBT rights organization in Nepal. It was established in 2001 to advocate for change in the existing laws against homosexuality and to advocate for the rights of N ...
, Nepal's first LGBT organisation. Its initial focus was on preventative work concerning
HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
, but it has since progressed into monitoring and reporting on human rights abuses. As of 2009, the Blue Diamond Society had 120,000 members and offices in 29 locations across Nepal. In November 2006, Pant was among 29 human rights campaigners who signed the
Yogyakarta Principles The Yogyakarta Principles is a document about human rights in the areas of sexual orientation and gender identity that was published as the outcome of an international meeting of human rights groups in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in November 2006. T ...
, a document concerning human rights in the areas of sexual orientation and gender identity; he has said that he feels that while Nepal is progressive in terms of its understanding of gender, that it lacks similar understanding when it comes to sexuality. In 2008, the Supreme Court of Nepal, in ''Sunil Babu Pant and Others v. Government of Nepal and Others'', granted legal recognition to Nepal's third gender, in addition to decriminalising homosexuality and permitting same-sex marriage. Pant was noted during his campaigning prior to the decision for promoting the idea that same-sex marriage would boost Nepal's economy due to the impact of wedding tourism. For two years, Pant hosted ''Pahichaan'', a television programme where he explained concepts pertaining to the LGBT community, in addition to the issues facing them. In 2012, Pant wrote an open letter to
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and
Chris Hughes Christopher Hughes (born November 26, 1983) is an American entrepreneur and author who co-founded and served as spokesman for the online social directory and networking site Facebook until 2007. He was the publisher and editor-in-chief of ''The ...
, urging them to allow
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users to list their gender as "other". He also led an ultimately unsuccessful bid for Nepal to host the
Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was s ...
.


Political career

Following Pant's successful campaigning and his subsequent popularity among LGBT voters, the Communist Party of Nepal (United) offered him one of the five proportional support seats it had secured in the constituent assembly following its 2008 establishment. As a politician, Pant served as a member of the Fundamental Rights Committee, and was successful in securing full protection for the LGBT community in Nepal's draft constitution. In 2013, Pant was criticised for receiving two salaries, one for his work as a parliamentarian, and another for serving as the director of the Blue Diamond Society; he resigned from the latter role in June 2013. That same year, Pant defected to the
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) The Communist Party of Nepal (), abbreviated CPN, was a communist party in Nepal from 1949 to 1962. It was founded on 15 September 1949 to struggle against the autocratic Rana regime, feudalism, and imperialism. The founding general secretary ...
, though he was not ultimately granted one of the 175 seats they won in the subsequent election, due to their policy not to permit parliamentarians who had served in the previous assembly. Pant said he had already intended to leave parliament due to his caring commitments for his partner.


Other activities

Pant founded the Peace Environment Development NGO, a non-governmental agency working to address
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
. He also established Pink Mountain, Nepal's first gay travel agency. In June 2011, Pant conducted the first public gay marriage ceremony in Nepal. In 2020, Pant ended his political career and converted to Buddhism, training as a monk in
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
and choosing the name Bhikshu Kashyap. As a monk, Pant has been critical of the stance among some Buddhists that intersex people should not be included within the religion. In 2023, Pant's short film ''Blue Flower'' premiered at the Kashish Film Festival. It follows a closeted gay man living in rural Nepal who is forced to marry a woman.


Recognition

Pant was nominated by
Anette Trettebergstuen Anette Trettebergstuen (born 25 May 1981) is a Norwegian politician representing the Labour Party, who served as Minister of Culture and Equality in Støre's Cabinet from 2021 to 2023. She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Hedmark ...
and
Håkon Haugli Håkon Haugli (born 21 May 1969) is a Norwegian politician and business executive. Since 2019 he is the CEO of Innovation Norway. Personal life Haugli was born in Oslo on 21 May 1969, a son of Håvard Haugli and Sigrun Anne Olsen. Career A dep ...
for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. In 2016, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' named Pant as one of their "#LGBTChange heroes". That same year, the documentary film ''Out Run'' premiered, directed by S. Leo Chiang and Johnny Simons. Documenting LGBT activist Bemz Benedito's bid to become the first transgender women elected to the
Congress of the Philippines The Congress of the Philippines () is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of an upper body, the Senate of the Philippines, Senate, and a lower body, the House of Representatives ...
, the directors said they had been inspired to make the film after reading an article about Pant.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pant, Sunil Babu Living people Communist Party of Nepal (United) politicians Gay politicians Nepalese Buddhists Nepalese LGBTQ people Nepalese LGBTQ politicians Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) politicians LGBTQ legislators People from Gorkha District Members of the 1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly Gay Buddhists Converts to Buddhism from Hinduism 1971 births Nepalese LGBTQ rights activists LGBTQ socialism