Manisha Dhakal\/ Executive Director Blue Diamond Society<\/strong><\/p>\n While speaking on the 25th anniversary of the Blue Diamond Society, the only question that comes to mind is: How did 25 years pass so fast? But these 25 years are not just the years of the passage of time. These are the 25 years of the struggle for our existence, identity, love, right to our own body and the right to live with dignity. <\/p>\n When BDS was founded in 2001, many friends in our community were living in the midst of fear, violence, and social ostracism, hiding their identities. In the beginning, HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and care were our important work. But we soon realized\u2014our struggle was not limited to HIV. <\/p>\n Family rejection, violence, legal discrimination, mental health, gender identity, health care, legal recognition, and same-sex marriage are all issues of our lives. So BDS put the question of rights, dignity, identity and justice at the center of its movement, along with health. <\/p>\n We understood that rights cannot be achieved only by living in Kathmandu. So, we reached out to the local level under the leadership of the community, created and strengthened CBOs, and built a national network. The establishment of the Federation of Sexual and Gender Minorities Nepal in 2007 was also an important achievement of this journey. <\/p>\n We also knocked on the doors of the courts for rights. The historic decisions of the Supreme Court and the enshrinement of the rights of gender and sexual minorities in the 2015 Constitution are the result of our years of struggle, courage and continuity. These are not just legal documents. They are the history of our community. <\/p>\n BDS stood with the community even in difficult times. From hospitals and treatments to police custody, from earthquakes to Covid-19, we have stood together in times of violence and disaster. <\/p>\n At a time when families and society were refusing to participate in festivals, weddings and social gatherings, BDSL gave the community a safe place like a family through Teej, picnics and its own group celebrations. Where we could laugh freely, have fun and most importantly\u2014live as ourselves. <\/p>\n Today, our community has reached the federal parliament. This is not the success of just one person. It is the result of the possibilities created by 25 years of collective struggle. <\/p>\n I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the various political parties and leadership who supported and supported me in this journey. We respectfully recall the positive role they played in giving space to the issues of our rights and identity in the political and public debate. <\/p>\n At present, the term ‘gender and sexual minority’ has been included in the institutional structure of the government of Nepal. The voice raised 25 years ago is an important achievement to be seen in the structure of the state today. But the name is not the only final achievement. It means a real change in the lives of the community. <\/p>\n Manisha Dhakal, Executive Director of Blue Diamond Society (Blue Diamond Society) <\/p>\n<\/p>\n 25 Years of Struggle: Just for Rights and Equality Manisha Dhakal\/ Executive Director Blue Diamond Society While speaking on the 25th anniversary of the Blue Diamond Society, the only question that comes to mind is: How did 25 years pass so fast? But these 25 years are not just the years of the passage ofContinue reading “25 Years of Struggle: Only for Rights and Equality”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":113813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-samachar-en"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/web-post_80f620a2.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113823,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113822\/revisions\/113823"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/media\/113813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"