UN/QUEERING INTERSECTIONS OF RELIGION AND PRIDE IN NEPAL

This article interrogates the processes through which the Hindu religious festival of Gai Jatra became closely connected with—and eventually contested within—the modern queer social and civil rights movement in Nepal. Drawing on queer theory, contemporary media accounts, and interviews with queer organizers and participants, the author questions the role of religion in queer Nepal. More specifically, she asks: To what degree does Hinduism attract, facilitate, or deter an alignment between the queer community and Gai Jatra or other Hindu festivals and practices? Exploring this question illuminates the evolution and imbrication of religious and queer social movements.