The Story of Nilam

Nilam Poudel has organized for transgender rights for much of her life. From humble beginnings she has become a leading voice in the fight for trans rights across Nepal, especially when it comes to providing safe and sustainable employment for trans individuals. 

Her path to this role began in the early 2000s. While working as a child maid in Thailand to support her family of eight siblings in Nepal, Nilam took a chance: she enrolled in an extended makeup training course offered in Bangkok. Using the skills she developed, Nilam decided to start her own business—and with the income it provided her, she left her work to return to Nepal. As her business grew, she had the chance to work on several Hollywood movies (such as Black Narcissists to Our Girls) and fashion shows across the country. In her success, she recognized an opportunity for the hundreds of other trans men and women she knew in Kathmandu who were subject to the severe abuse and ostracization that she had grown up with. 

As in the United States, trans communities in Nepal are some of the most discriminated and marginalized groups. In 2007, Nepal’s Supreme Court made a groundbreaking decision on gender identity and sexual orientation that recognized equal rights for sexual minorities. The decision ordered the government to issue citizenship certificates and identity cards with a third gender option in the form of ‘other’. In 2015, Nepal joined a handful of countries around the world by adding protections for the LGBTQIA community in its constitution. 

Despite these progressive laws, however, discrimination and prejudice continued. Today, transgender individuals in Nepal continue to be excluded and rejected by their families, leaving them with few options to support themselves financially. Though sex work is illegal across Nepal, many trans women are forced to engage in it as the only means to provide for themselves.

Building Conscious Connections 

CCF first met Nilam during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when she was trying to assist with many in the LGBTQIA community who had lost their jobs due to the lockdown. CCF Board member, Kesang Yudron, worked with Nilam to identify & distribute food rations to over 100 individuals throughout the Terai and Kathmandu. Because of the great work Nilam did in 2020, CCF worked with her again in 2021 when Covid hit Nepal the hardest. Distributing food, cooking gas and masks to another 95 individuals

As the pressures of the pandemic receded, Nilam and Kesang began examining more long term ways of addressing the adversity faced by the LGBTQIA community. Nilam had long dreamed of providing other trans women with skill training programs like the makeup training she had received so participants could have the opportunity to leave sex work. In June of 2022, CCF partnered with Nilam once again to make this dream a reality.  

“The First Trainings of their Kind” 

With funding by CCF and on the ground support through Kesang, Nilam worked to organize two, 11-day certification courses for participants to learn about makeup and beautician practice. The first trainings of their kind in Nepal, they brought together 62 LGBTQIA participants from Itahari, Dharan, Biratnagar, Rajbiraj and Damak. Many of transgender participants were HIV positive and came from a background of sex work while others, like Nilam, were long-time activists and organizers for Trans rights in Nepal. One such participant, Sunil, is a central point of contact for the LGBTQIA community on social media, helping people get access to medicine and psychological help. 

Not only did these trainings provide an opportunity to learn a new skill, but they allowed participants to build confidence and build new relationships within their LGBTQIA community. 

Included in these trainings was a day-long portion on how participants could start their own business and also a final certification of completion could be used to show to salons and potential clients. 

Three months later, Nilam’s hard work has paid off:

Three women are now in the process of opening their own beauty parlors in Southern Nepal. Nilam has been working with them to provide additional business support on how to open a beauty business. In a first for CCF, we have received several TikTok and Instagram photos with them showing their work in social media.

Others have found jobs in local salons or are doing freelance bridal makeup work. They are now making Rs. 10,000-12,000 per day—an amount equivalent to what it would take them a full month to make before. 

For Gita Katiwall, a 26 years old queer woman from the Terai, the makeup training meant giving her a confidence to walk outside with makeup which she had never done before. She is also currently applying for jobs at makeup studios. 

The Bigger Picture

The relationship between makeup and transgender individuals in Nepal is a complex one. For many trans women, makeup is the first step to embracing their own gender identity. In the Terai, Transgender people face a high rate of homicide and face a possibility of violence every day.  Many trans participants said that wearing makeup means not getting verbally and physically abused on the street. Being more accepted by society when they fit into the female form. For transgender men, make up was helpful in appearing in a more male form. 

CCF exists to invest in the power of women and girls to be key participants in their society. This cannot happen if we allow LGBTQIA communities to be ignored or left in the margins. Nilam’s work and that of the other 62 participants in these trainings will go on to have ripple effects far into the future. All of us look forward to being there to witness what that will look like.