Recent Discourses on Queer Heritage in Nepal

Abstract

‘Heritage’ has become a central concept in the queer communities of Nepal recently. Authoritative texts, objects, and practices are increasingly referred to by key figures among the queer community for arguing that queerness – or rather some of the aspects that contemporary international discourse subsumes under the English term queer – have been understood as a natural and commonly accepted parts of society in former times in Nepal. Temples, paintings, statues, rituals, and narratives are listed by well-known local representatives of the queer community for arguing that Nepal features a queerfriendly heritage which reverberates in current times and qualifies the country as an outstandingly queerfriendly tourism destination. However, not all stakeholders among the queer community of Nepal are of this opinion and critical local queer voices point at the limits and potential pitfalls of the recently emerging queer heritage strategy. Based on recent field research, this contribution follows the queer heritage discourse in Nepal and examines the intersectionalities that make the heritage approach to queerness locally controversial.