Colorado is one among many states in the United States that does not recognize same sex marriage.[break]
Mitchell, a college professor of psychology and Welton, a criminal defense lawyer, beamed as a group of close friends and local gay rights activists, supporter and member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community cheered on at Dakshinkali temple, south of Kathmandu. Dressed in traditional daura suruwal Mitchell lined Welton´s forehead with vermillion, a sign of marriage according to Nepali culture.
Welton said she felt like a bollywood star in her wedding attire.
Stating that this was the most important day of their lives, the couple said they chose Nepal to celebrate their relationship as the place is very close to their heart, especially Mitchell who worked with the US Peace Corp in Nepal between 1998 and 2003. With the Supreme Court´s order to legally guarantee sexual right and end discrimination recently, Mitchell said this was a good occasion to be here.
According to Member of Parliament and gay rights activist Sunilbabu Pant, this is the first public wedding of a lesbian couple in Nepal. “There were many closet lesbian weddings in the past but this wedding encourages the community to honor their relationship and think of themselves as normal as straight people,” he said.
“This is the first wedding of this kind that I have conducted,” said Uttam Lamichhane, the twenty-five year old priest chosen to perform the wedding. Temple is a place that does not discriminate a person on the basis of their cast, creed or religion; likewise same sex marriage should not be discriminated against, opined Lamichhane. “Marriage is appreciation of love and meeting of two hearts and it does not matter if it is between a man and a woman or between two same sex people,” he added.
The couple chose a Hindu wedding because of the symbolic components that it comprises and the traditions were more meaningful to them. “Another reason for it was the mention of homosexuality and same sex marriages in the religious scriptures,” added Mitchell. The newly-weds revealed that they were raised Christians but were no longer practising it.
This was also the first wedding organized by Pink Yatra, an exclusive travel and tour agency for and by LGBT. The ten thousand dollars wedding received a phenomenal response not just from the LGBT community but the local community of Dakshinkali as well. Though the Nepali government will not legalize this wedding, Pant said that wedding of this kind is very profitable for the nation as the wedding party comes with its group and spends lavishly.
“There are no liabilities yet they are very lucrative and at a time when we are talking about equality and inclusiveness, it is a must for the government to give the community equal rights,” he said.
As per the wedding package, the couple will spend another week in Nepal trekking around Nagarkot and Shivapuri before they go home to their nine-and-half years old daughter Stella. The next step for them, they said, is to legalize their wedding in the state of Iowa in US where same sex marriage is legal.