Boby Tamang, 33 works for Blue Diamond Society, a LGBTI organisation, as an office assistant. She is also a sex worker. As a child Boby recognised she was different from other boys and girls. ÒThere was nobody like me in my village. And I thought that I was completely alone in the world,Ó she says. At the age of 13 she ran away. ÒI left my village because I hoped to find people like me.Ó In Kathmandu she did find people like her: ÒAfter I met other transgender people, I realised that I was not alone and it made me very happy.Ó Her struggles were not over though. Like many other trans people in Nepal, finding work proved difficult. Soon she started doing sex work to survive. ÒWe are forced to do sex work because transgender donÕt get employment opportunities, and get kicked out of school. Normal girls and boys get work, but we transgender have to face difficulties. Even if they hire us, they kick us out after a month or two. We have no choice but to do sex work.Ó Boby has now been a sex worker for 10 years. Her work has meant sheÕs been arrested 10 times. She has had to be strong to survive. That has sometimes meant taking a stand for who she is. But as she has grown older, sheÕs also changed how she reacts to those who donÕt understand her: ÒIn the early days, people discriminated against us. I used to fight a lot. I told them, Ôwe are humans, cut us you will find blood and shit, the same as yours.Õ I have now given up. How many can you fight? Let the one who says it, say it. I have learned to tolerate their words. They cannot be educated. I am not going to care what anyone thinks.Ó Nepal's current LGBTQI+ laws are some of the most open in the world Ð including the legal recognition of a third gender. Tangible implementation of the various government orders has been piecemeal though, a 2014 United Nations report noted. And government officials have continued to harass LGBT groups, including by alleging that organizing around homosexuality is illegal in the country. Furthermore, while laws are progressive, discrimination is wide spread, especially within families, where marriage between a man and a woman and the bearing of children are expected of young Nepalese. Kathmandu, Nepal. 06.11.18. Photo Robin Hammond/Witness Change

Boby Tamang /

“I realised that I was a transgender when I was 13 years old. I have not studied a lot. And I studied up to third grade in my village.  At the age of 13 I ran and came to Kathmandu. I worked in the garment industry as a carpet weaver. And then I started working for hotels. After working for two years, I met people like me. And then I started dancing at restaurants by becoming a girl. We did not know about Blue Diamond Society nor did it exist back then. There was nobody like me in my village. And I thought that I was completely alone in the world. So I left village because i hoped to find people like me. Back then, 5-10-15…20 years ago I would go to Ratna Park, and people called me meti. I did not know what it meant. Later i found it was a word to describe guys who became girls. They had a lot of  words to describe the sexuality of LGBT people. I did not know anything then and I would ask: is than also possible? People came looking for sex at night. Some  went to the park, others to the bathroom. And I realised i was like those people. When I had not become a girl, there was no harassment. After I started wearing women’s clothing i was harrased, the police locked me up several times, and beat me. I am a sex worker.  I work here part time… I am still a sex worker.

I have been a sex worker for 10 years. At first there was no difficulty because the police and the locals were supportive. Now, I have a lot of different friends. You must know about Thamel. There is a lot of theivery and robbery happening there. When we wear women’s clothing, people think we are thieves. We are forced to do sex work because transgender dont get employment opportunities, and get kicked out of school. Normal girls and boys get work, but we transgender have to face difficulties. Even if  they hire us, they kick us out after a month or two. We have no choice but to do sex work. People who can understand, have already understood. ANd there are those who dont want to understand. We stay quiet in front of them. We have never been caught doing sexwork inside hotels but police take us to jail when they see us walking down the street. They say we are spreading decadence in society. We are in prison for 20 to 25 days. Other people pay fine up to 5000 rupees, while transgender are fined up to one lakh rupees.”

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