Is Nepal’s New Third Gender Passport a Win for Trans Rights?

Men stare bemusedly from the sidewalk as several hundred gay pride revelers gather in Kathmandu’s tourist district. The parade is made up of a large contingent of trans women, among others, decked out in sexy dresses, gaudy pride outfits, and traditional Nepali clothing. A group in red saris hold clay pots on their heads.
A young trans woman in a light blue bob wig, sapphire hot pants, and a matching bikini top hops out of a taxi. “Happy Gai Jatra!” she yells and throws up her arms, unfurling rainbow wings to the delight of photographers.

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Military interpreters restart their lives in upstate, others still at risk

On one of the year’s first perfect spring days, Aziz trolls the Wegmans supermarket parking lot for stray shopping carts. Despite sometimes erratic weather, he doesn’t mind logging long hours walking the asphalt. It’s nothing compared to the hiking he used to do in his native Afghanistan. Compared to the mountainous terrain, Aziz calls being on his feet all day in the flat parking lot, “a picnic.”…

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Rochester Prayers For Nepal

Rochester’s Bhutanese Nepali community turned a celebration of Buddha’s birthday Sunday into a chance to support victims of the recent earthquake in Nepal. Buddhist chants filled Jones Square Park as women in long red dresses picked white blossoms from the trees to lay at a shrine…

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