When Maya and her partner walked into their local government office in Kathmandu in 2024, they held their breath. After years of being told they could not marry, the couple finally had a document proving their union — one of 35 same-sex couples who had registered under an earlier court order. But it was temporary. Nobody knew if it would last.
Now it will.
On June 18, 2026, Nepal's Supreme Court issued a final, binding ruling ordering the government to guarantee equal marriage rights for LGBTQ+ couples. This was the fourth Supreme Court decision on the issue in nearly 20 years. The court also rejected a counter-petition filed by Yuvraj Paudel that had opposed the rights, and directed the government to rewrite its civil code — stripping out language that limits marriage to a man and a woman — and set up a separate marriage registry for same-sex couples.
The legal fight stretches back to 2007, when Sunil Babu Pant, a human rights activist, monk, and former politician, filed the original lawsuit against the government. That case, Sunil Babu Pant vs. Nepal, first established constitutional protections for sexual and gender minorities. A 2023 interim ruling provisionally recognized same-sex marriages while the final case worked its way through the courts. Nine activists brought the suit that led to this week's ruling.
Sunil Babu Pant welcomed the decision. "This ruling marks a historic milestone for equality, dignity, and human rights in Nepal, while providing crucial legal clarity and protection for the rights of same-sex couples," they said. "It confirms that gender and sexual minority couples are entitled to equal protection of the law."
The Blue Diamond Society, Nepal's leading LGBTQ+ rights organization, put it plainly: "The ruling is now the fourth Supreme Court decision over nearly two decades that makes clear: the freedom to marry the person you love is a guarantee under Nepal's Constitution." The group was more blunt about what the ruling means in practice: "LGBTQIA+ couples and their families must be afforded the dignity, respect, and protections that only marriage can provide."
Nepal's Supreme Court has final authority to interpret the constitution, meaning the government has no legal option but to comply. The directive requires updating the civil code and giving same-sex couples equal access to marriage registration.
But Nepal's governments have a record of ignoring or delaying Supreme Court directives, sometimes for years. The Blue Diamond Society said they were "excited to witness the next steps from the Government in translating this ruling into practice." That is a patient way to put it, from people who have been at this for two decades.
For the 35 couples who registered under the 2023 interim order — and the countless others who have waited — the uncertainty is finally over.