The national census in Nepal will soon include a third box to check for those who don’t fit perfectly into “male” or “female” categories, giving transgendered and transsexual Nepalese the option to be official.

“Earlier, we had only two categories, men and women,” said Bikash Bista, director of the Central Bureau of Statistics in Kathmandu. “But in the upcoming census, we are including a 'third gender’ category.” While the country is still deeply conservative, a recent ruling by the Supreme Court in Nepal required the government to start protecting the rights of gay, lesbian and bisexual people, which prompted the Bureau of Statistics to enact the census changes.

“This shows that the government has started to recognize them [LGBT population.] I hope this will help to ensure their rights,” said Nepal’s first openly gay parliamentarian, Sunil Babu Panta. “But challenges remain for the community as they have often been forced to leave their villages and taken refuge in cities due to discrimination.”

India is also rumored to be adding a third gender option to their census taking place in 2011. On the other hand, people in the U.S. still have a third option when asked the question “Sex?” on any kind of document or form. We can always scribble “Yes, please” in the margins.