LGBT Asylum News: Video: Queer Pride celebrated in Delhi and Bangalore

Thursday, 1 December 2011

Video: Queer Pride celebrated in Delhi and Bangalore

Picture by Aditya Bondyopadhyay

Some 2000 people joined the forth Delhi Queer Pride 27 November, the second since India's Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality.

Organized by the Delhi Queer Pride Committee, all permissions were taken from the Delhi Police to host this march, and the police provided security cover during the event with over 40 male and female police personnel present.

The march ended in Jantar Mantar with a reading of the 'Charter of Demands for LGBT Rights' and a 2 minute silence for those Hijra sisters who died in the recent Nand Nagri fire tragedy.

India TV News quoted Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, who recently participated in the fifth season of TV reality show ‘Big Boss’, saying:

“Most of those who died were prominent gurus. When parents shut their doors to a hijra child born in the family, it is these gurus who adopt them. They are like our parents. Many in my community have been orphaned.”

Delhi LGBT held a parade, titled 'Jashn-e-Azadi' (a celebration of freedom), in June on the second anniversary of the Supreme court decision to spread awareness about the problems faced by the community like forced marriages, discrimination at workplace, social stigma and ostracisation.

In Bangalore, 800 attended the Pride march 30 November, the culmination of a week-long festival organised by the Campaign for Sexualities Minorities Rights (CSMR).

The Hindu reported:

A highlight of Pride 2011 was that many new people participated, irrespective of their sexual orientation. “The garage sale [a fundraiser] and poster-making sessions brought the participation of several enthusiastic persons, some of them first-timers. And the pride march attracted techies who announced their support to the LGBT community with heart-warming placards. All these are positive signs that the LGBT community is slowly gaining acceptance,” said CSMR volunteer Sowmya Reddy