--- title: Rukshana Kapali is on the TIME100 Next 2024 List description: Find out how Rukshana Kapali is shaping the future and defining the next generation of leadership. canonical: https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023612/rukshana-kapali/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-10-02T11:09:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-03T00:36:50.435Z article:section: World og:title: 2024 TIME100 Next: Rukshana Kapali og:description: Find out why Rukshana Kapali is on this year’s TIME100 Next list og:url: https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023612/rukshana-kapali/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb810b2304aed847/698a5ba39d83e8511cb9a96c/time100-next-2024-rukshana-kapali.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2024 TIME100 Next: Rukshana Kapali og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 2024 TIME100 Next: Rukshana Kapali twitter:description: Find out why Rukshana Kapali is on this year’s TIME100 Next list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb810b2304aed847/698a5ba39d83e8511cb9a96c/time100-next-2024-rukshana-kapali.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 02, 2024 # Rukshana Kapali by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/) ## Chad de Guzman Reporter  Rukshana Kapali Rukshana KapaliRobin Hammond—Panos Pictures/Redux Despite Nepal’s reputation as a beacon of LGBTQIA+ rights in South Asia, activists are still pushing for greater protections for its transgender community—and Rukshana Kapali is leading the charge. A fourth-year law student and a transgender woman from the Newa Indigenous nation, Kapali has filed more than 50 cases against the Nepalese government since 2021 pushing for changes in policy. Of the 20 lawsuits she filed at the Supreme Court, only one so far has reached a verdict, but it’s a meaningful first victory: a November ruling narrowly granted her full legal recognition as a woman. While other transgender people will have to similarly petition for gender recognition, Kapali’s court win sets a legal precedent that may assist their cases. She believes her work is just beginning: “Suing them and holding them accountable in the court of law is also saying that we are not stoppable and we’ll keep on fighting.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023612/rukshana-kapali/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023612/rukshana-kapali/"},"headline":"Rukshana Kapali","datePublished":"2024-10-02T11:09:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:36:50.435Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023612/rukshana-kapali/","keywords":["list","franchise","Magazine","TIME 100 Next","News Desk","sponsorshipblock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb810b2304aed847/698a5ba39d83e8511cb9a96c/time100-next-2024-rukshana-kapali.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chad de Guzman"}],"creator":"Chad de Guzman","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb810b2304aed847/698a5ba39d83e8511cb9a96c/time100-next-2024-rukshana-kapali.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023612/rukshana-kapali/","name":"Rukshana Kapali"}}]}] ```