Nepal’s 16th LGBTI Pride and Gai Jatra celebration was held on August 16th, 2019. The parade took off around noon from Kathmandu’s touristy hub Thamel, and weaved its way through the old city, finally ending up at the open grounds of Tundikhel.
Gaijatra is a 500 years old annual festival of Nepal where families bring out procession to commemorate their loved ones who have passed away. Blue Diamond Society started celebrating this festival with members of sexual and gender minorities of Nepal since 2002 annually.
The celebration also commemorated those who lost their lives because of sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics. It was a beautiful moment seeing participants dressed in ethnic attire (Sherpa, Gurung, etc), being cheered on by the larger society members who waved and took pictures, and even walked alongside in solidarity with their children and grandchildren, dancing to the rustic sounds of Nepali musical instruments.