Nepal has elected its first out transgender lawmaker.

On Monday, Nepal’s Election Commission confirmed that Bhumika Shrestha will serve as a Member of Parliament, taking one of 182 seats in the country’s House of Representatives that the centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party secured in this month’s elections.

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“I am very excited but also feel the responsibility on my shoulders,” Shrestha told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “Our constitution has provisions for our community, but they have not translated to laws and policies. Our community expects me to raise our issues.”

The 37-year-old activist and actress has been a leading figure in Nepal’s LGBTQ+ rights movement. According to Business Today, she has worked closely with the LGBTQ+ rights group Blue Diamond Society and was involved in the successful effort to include a third gender category on official documents. She was also the first Nepali citizen to travel with the updated documents. In 2019, Apolitical included her in its list of the Most Influential People in Global Policy, and her LGBTQ+ rights advocacy earned her a 2022 International Women of Courage Award from the U.S. Department of State.

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Earlier this month, the Rastriya Swatantra Party won 125 of 165 directly elected seats in Nepal’s 275‑member House of Representatives as well as an additional 57 seats through the country’s proportional representation system. The party’s gains in the March 5 election follow deadly anti-corruption protests last September, which toppled the government.

While Nepal boasts some of the most progressive LGBTQ+ rights laws, AFP notes that Shrestha is the first LGBTQ+ person to hold public office in the country since 2008.

Supporters reportedly showered Shrestha with flowers and gifts at the Blue Diamond Society office in Kathmandu. The organization’s president, Umisha Pandey, noted to the AFP the difference Shrestha’s presence in the Nepali House will make for the country’s LGBTQ+ community.

“Our pains, our sufferings, our feeling, our stories, and our every problem is only understood by us, not by others.”

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