Nepal Seeking to Attrack More Gay Tourist
March 15, 2010 by James Hipps · Leave a Comment
According to a post on the NY Times Blog:
Nepal plans to offer same-sex couples the possibility of getting married at the Everest base camp and of honeymooning on a Himalayan trek or adventure tour. But the country also wants a chunk of the multibillion-dollar gay tourist market. ‘They (LGBT tourist) are high-spending consumers.’’
I think the ongoing effect of this is much greater than what one may think on the onset. I do believe that with increased revenues realized due to directly marketing to the LGBT community, it will eventually lead to others wanting to realize the same market increase and the LGBT community will one day lose its status as a “niche” market and grow into one that business and places compete for.
Tourism is a driving force of Napal’s economy, and the government is hopeful this campaign will double the number of vacationers in 2011 to over one million.
Nepal Taps Gay Market to Develop Tourism
January 30, 2010 by Gay Agenda News Team · Leave a Comment
Nepal will play host to a royal wedding with a difference when an openly gay Indian prince marries his partner at a Hindu temple in Kathmandu.
The ceremony is the start of what a Nepalese politician, Sunil Babu Pant, hopes will become a lucrative business for his country, whose tourist industry is still reeling from the effects of a decade-long civil war that ended in 2006.
Mr Pant, the first openly gay MP in Nepal, has set up a travel agency catering for gay tourists, who he says face severe discrimination in many Asian countries.
More at: The Sydney Morning Herald!
Nepal Travel Agency Seeks Gay & Lesbian Travelers
January 22, 2010 by Gay Agenda News Team · Leave a Comment
Homosexuals hankering after a wedding on elephant back or on top of the world can head to Nepal, where a travel agency has been set up to cater to their holiday, and celebratory, needs.
The Pink Mountain agency was founded by three Nepali gay men, including Sunil Babu Pant, the country’s only openly gay member of parliament.
Pant said he hoped the agency would attract rich gays and lesbians to the Himalayan nation that is home to Mount Everest and which is still recovering from a decade-long civil war.
“We’ll ensure that there is no discrimination against them in Nepal and welcome gay and lesbian visitors in adventure sports like rafting, trekking, mountaineering and jungle safaris,” he told Reuters.
The agency also offers same-sex wedding packages on Everest, the world’s tallest peak, which along with Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, helps to attracts nearly half a million tourists to Nepal every year.
“We’ll support any gay couples, lesbian couples who want to marry and honour their relations in exotic places like on Everest or organise wedding parties,” Pant added.
Homosexuality remains taboo in Nepal but the country has become increasingly more gay friendly over the last few years.
Portugal Ready to Leagalize Gay Marriage
November 9, 2009 by James Hipps · 2 Comments
According to sources, José Sócrates, the Prime Minister of Portugal, has been busy developing a new government after the elections in September. Part of that new government is equality for the country’s LGBT citizens. On October 23, Sócrates stated that legalizing same-sex marriage will be one of the new leadership’s first changes.
According to a post on PortugalGay.pt:
“The measure is part of the official program of the party and according to government sources, the move will be done as soon as the government is complete.” (Complete as in completely formed).
Portuguese lawmakers from all parties are in favor of the move and support marriage equality, leading to the belief the bill will pass with ease.
Portugal has recognizes “de facto unions” for both opposite and same-sex couples since 2001, but much like civil unions, they only grant limited rights to couples, so the lawmakers feel it’s time to even the playing field.
Portugal would become the nineth country to legalize same-sex marriage, joining the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden and Nepal in offering its LGBT citizens marriage equality.
Gay Marriage Legalized in Nepal!
November 20, 2008 by James Hipps · Leave a Comment
Nepal, which is a largely conservative country where the majority of inhabitants are Hindu, just legalized same-sex marriage, as it was upheld by its Supreme Court on Nov. 17.
Marriage equality came to Nepal as a direct ruling by the country’s court that issues equal protections under all aspects of the law to GLBT citizens.
Same sex marriage is also legal in other countries with higher standards of diversity such as Canada, England, France, South Africa, South Korea, and Spain.
The United States has only two states that currently recognize same-sex marriages, those being Massachusetts and Connecticut. The state of California briefly extended equal rights, but those rights were stripped away from the GLBT community by the passage of anti-gay, constitutional amendment Proposition 8 during the 2008 November election.
In 28 other states, anti-gay constitutional amendments have made same-sex marriage illegal and in 33 states it still legal for employers to fire employees based simply upon being gay.
The leader of Nepal’s GLBT equality advocate group, the Blue Diamond Society, was quoted in a Nov. 19 story at the Hindustan Times.
“The court has instructed the government against making any discrimination on the basis of sex. This is a landmark decision for the sexual minorities and we welcome it.”
