Gay Life in Nepal – The Nomadic Boys

Gay Life in Nepal - The Nomadic Boys

Our friend Tilak from Kathmandu tells us about gay life Nepal and how it was growing up here.

Gay Life in Nepal – The Shining Pink Beacon of South Asia.

When it comes to LGBTQ rights, Asia as a whole is notorious for being super conservative, especially across South Asia. Here, most countries have anti-LGBTQ+ laws in place (like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives), and one of them even has state execution on the cards – Afghanistan! Only India, Bhutan, and Nepal have thrown out and repealed their anti-gay laws. However, Nepal is the only one to have gone further and introduced a comprehensive set of anti-discrimination laws to protect its LGBTQ community.

This is why we rate Nepal as one of the most gay friendly countries in Asia. But as we said, this is one very conservative region of the world with much work to be done. Nepali society remains very conservative – many men end up leading double lives, marrying a woman to please the family, keeping their true nature hidden deep in the closet.

The Nepali gay community is evolving and growing more confident every year thanks in part to the amazing work of LGBTQ organisations like the Blue Diamond Society. In Kathmandu, we met local boy Tilak, who showed us the small gay scene in Thamel and told us more about gay life in Nepal. Whilst the country is very progressive on paper, and to foreigners, for the local LGBTQ community, Nepal is still very conservative, and for this reason, Tilak asked that we keep his identity anonymous.

By Stefan Arestis – Full Story at the Nomadic Boys

Nepal Gay Travel Resources

Gay Kathmandu, Nepal – The Nomadic Boys

Gay Kathmandu, Nepal - The Nomadic Boys

Here’s our travel guide to gay Kathmandu, with all the best gay friendly hotels, bars, restaurants and things to do.

Chaotic, messy, loud, colorful, captivating, and completely disorganized!

That was our first impression of Kathmandu as we drove into the city from the airport to our hotel in Thamel. The traffic was all over the place, with people, motorbikes, two-wheelers, taxis, and buses all negotiating tight narrow roads… yet somehow it all works seamlessly!

We completely fell in love with this city. Yes, it’s messy and slightly disorderly, but there’s something magical about it that just gets in your skin and makes you quickly fall in love with it.

Visiting Gay Kathmandu

Kathmandu was our base to start our Himalayan trekking adventures around Nepal. In fact, most gay travelers heading to the city are here for the same reason. The tourism industry here is all geared towards treks to Annapurna, Everest Base Camp, Langtang, Poon Hill, etc. The center of the city is a labyrinth of businesses geared towards trekkers including agencies, trekking clothes shops, hostels, bars, restaurants, and more.

By Stefan Arestis – Full Story at the Nomadic Boys

Kathmandu Gay Travel Resources

Gay Nepal – The Nomadic Boys

Gay Nepal - The Nomadic Boys

The gay beacon of South Asia!

Nepal ranks as one of our favorite destinations. Not only does it have some of the most incredible scenery we’ve ever seen, but it’s also a very gay-friendly country – at least by Asian standards…

Gay Nepal

It may come as a surprise, but Nepal has for years been a beacon for LGBTQ rights across what is a very conservative part of Asia. The country’s constitution in 2015 introduced a whole set of anti-discrimination laws to protect its LGBTQ community, and Pride parades have grown massively in popularity over the past decade.

We fell in love with gay Nepal because trekking in the Himalayas is one of the most unforgettable adventures we’ve ever done together. Alongside this, the Nepali people were nothing but welcoming and super courteous to us, which just made it even more special. Take it from us, a trip to this gorgeous country is nothing short of a magical exploration into nature that will blow your mind and quickly make you want to return for more!

Full Story at The Nomadic Boys

Gay Nepal Travel Resources

Gay Friendly Asia – Nomadic Boys

Gay Friendly Asia - The Nomadic Boys

We spent 2 years travelling around Asia and completely fell in love with the continent. It offers so much in terms of cultural experiences, food and landscapes, with some of the most humble people you’ll ever meet.

But when it comes to LGBTQ rights, Asia has some serious work to do! In quite a lot of countries in Asia, being gay is either illegal or an arrestable offence, like in Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, the Maldives, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. If it’s not illegal, then it’s such a strong taboo that you have to stay in the closet to avoid jeopardising your job prospects and embarrassing your family like in China, Russia and Indonesia.

Despite this, there are a number of countries in Asia that are paving the way forward in relation to LGBTQ rights. We’ve selected the top 10 most gay friendly countries in Asia, which we’ve based on the following criteria:

  • Where are they at with same sex marriage legislation, along with other LGBTQ laws?
  • What is the gay scene like and do they have any notable annual LGBTQ festivals?
  • Our personal experience travelling there as a gay couple, with reference to the most recent Spartacus Gay Travel Index.

We have taken it as a given that homosexuality is legal in the countries we’ve selected, which is why we haven’t included Singapore despite it having quite a vibrant gay scene and a famous LGBTQ PinkDot festival in June/July.

We have also included two “places” (Taiwan and Hong Kong) rather than “countries”, because although they’re not officially recognised “countries”, they can still be regarded as a “country” given they have their own flag, currency, national anthem, set of laws etc.

By Stefan Arestis – Full Story at the Nomadic Boys

Asia Gay Travel Resources