From Gai (Cow) Jatra (Festival) to LGBTQ Festival: Searching and Challenging Identities

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"Festival of Cows," commonly known as Gai Jatra is a traditional festival celebrated in Nepal, particularly among the Newar community in the capital city and nearby areas. It usually occurs in August or September, following the lunar calendar. This festival started in Nepal during the Malla dynasty and has significant historical and spiritual value. The celebration is based on the concept that a cow guides the spirits of the dead to paradise. Therefore, families who have lost loved ones in the previous year lead a parade through the streets, often with a decorated cow, to honor the dead and ensure their peaceful departure into the afterlife. The purpose of this festival was also to celebrate death and understand the essence of life.,

 In recent times, this festival has been a celebration of joy and laughter, allowing a space for satire, comedy, and parody to challenge traditional societal norms. The use of comedy and sarcasm is one of Gai Jatra's most unique elements. People also use this festival to satire corrupted politicians and traditional societal norms. People gather through public parades, painting faces, showcasing different traditional and modern fashions, performing comedy acts, and other satirical street performances which are centered mainly around the urban capital city Kathmandu and nearby spaces.

Furthermore, Gai Jatra has recently evolved into a celebration of LGBTQ inclusivity and expression in Nepal which started with a satirical notion of this festival and voiced that LGBTQ identity has to be taken seriously. The festival officially turned into a pride parade day for LGBTQ in 2010 with the initiation of the Blue Diamond Society which is an LGBTQ rights organization in Nepal. Around 2000 people from different countries like the United Kingdom, Japan, Denmark, Germany, Norway and India joined this parade. Since then, every year Gai Jatra has been celebrated as a pride parade day by the LGBTQ community where they express their identities in a public space by walking in rainbow color parades, dressing as they want, raising their voice for LGBTQ, and demanding space within the society. 

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In a country where social norms are conservative, Gai Jatra became a unique and vital platform for freedom of expression. LGBTQ community feel liberated to express their identities openly during Gai Jatra. This evolution of Gai Jatra can be intimately linked to the concept of spatial justice, which emphasizes the equitable distribution of resources and opportunities in urban settings (Hopkins, 2021) Through this lens, we can examine how Gai Jatra (festival) both reflects and influences concerns of accessibility, representation, and equity in urban settings so that various identities of people can co-exist (Foran, 2013). Gai Jatra serves as a counter-narrative in a society like Nepal where conservative values restrict visibility and acknowledging LGBTQ identities. As a public festival, it enables LGBTQ people to publicly celebrate their identities in a communal context, challenging societal taboos and hierarchies. This visibility is critical in a society that is hesitant to acknowledge and celebrate different sexual identities, especially in a public space. As argued by Arups 2021 video “Queering public spaces”, this can be further supported by making the LGBTQ visible through public and street arts and culture, fashion, LGBTQ-led businesses and initiatives, debates and discussions, rights to healthcare, and basic needs.

Likewise, the festival provides a temporary "safe space" regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation (Bailey et al.) where people can freely express themselves. It promotes an atmosphere of acceptance and celebration, in contrast to everyday situations in which LGBTQ people may suffer prejudice. This contrast emphasizes the necessity of permanent and long-term inclusive urban spaces. This festival also promotes a sense of community, which is crucial for spatial justice. We can evaluate how inclusive public areas are by looking at how various groups use them. The participation of LGBTQ community in Gai Jatra showcases how important it is to have urban areas that value diversity and communal identities.

In conclusion, this annual festival became a political movement that advocated for the inclusion and rights of the LGBTQ and legalized same-sex marriage in Nepal in 2015 in the new constitution. However, the acceptance of these different identities is still not more visible and public. People are celebrating these identities in private and limited spaces. Places in rural Nepal are more hesitant to accept these identities, and Urban areas are somehow liberal and have spaces for LGBTQ people, but it is very limited. In this scenario, through the prism of spatial justice, Gai Jatra appears not just as a cultural festival, but also as an important venue for searching and challenging identities in urban settings. By questioning traditional norms, encouraging community engagement, and representing identities, the festival helps to shape a more equitable urban landscape. It emphasizes the significance of providing spaces that allow various identities to thrive, emphasizing the idea that public spaces should reflect the different identities and communities they serve.