Gay pride parade india

Bringing together members of the LGBTQIA+ community and allies, the event began with a series of moving speeches.

Taking to the adjoining streets of Barakhamba and Connaught Place, attendees expressed their joy and happiness through dance moves. Years after she stopped talking to him, Mr Dowjah's neighbour knocked on his door and finally apologised for her behaviour.

Mr Dowjah says it just showed one had to keep doing the right thing. But this time, they felt like they were marching in a different country.

"For a young queer person like me, the march showed that we could struggle for a better and more queer-friendly India visibly, proudly and publicly," said Parmesh Shahani, author of Queeristan - LGBTQ Inclusion in the Workplace. In a few years, the Supreme Court would be hearing arguments to legalise same-sex marriages.

Carrying rainbow-coloured flags and placards with slogans, supporters marched to the beats of traditional dhol drums. From their personal journeys of acceptance to calling for policy-level inclusion and workplace equality, the speakers’ words set the tone for the rest of the evening.

“I believe Pride should not just be celebrated during one particular month, but all 365 days of the year.

"The 20th anniversary walk was also quite a washout because of the rains," Mr Dhall says.

There was a happier postscript though. We wanted to tell our people that while the world might be regressing, in India, we are progressing,” said Keshav Suri, an activist and LGBTQIA+ advocate, during the event, adding, “While we have a long way to go, we’re still on the right path.”

Several attendees reflected the spirit of Pride month in vibrant rainbow colours.

“This year the theme is ‘gender’, and we are addressing something that oppresses us all – the straight-jacket of gender,” Mohnish Kabir Malhotra, a member of the Delhi Queer Pride organising committee, told Al Jazeera.

The parade brought together members of the LGBT community to support those who face discrimination, violence, abuse and ostracisation because of their gender or sexual identity, Malhotra added.

The parade in its initial years received limited support, from members of the community and mainly young allies, but recent parades have seen a change.

“Parents, siblings, grandparents and relatives now come out and participate in the parade,” said Malhotra.

“The Pride Parade has brought homosexuality into the open and it is being accepted.

Homosexuality had just been decriminalised in India in 2018.

Many other cities host pride parades in the month of June, commemorating the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City.

While the first gay pride parade in India took place in 2003, Delhi got its first parade in 2008. Also part of the celebrations was a Pride March. It is not something that one only talks about behind closed doors.”

Soon, reactions began to pour from abroad as well.

"I am moved to tears," said Faisal Alam, founder of the queer Muslim support group Al Fatiha in the US, in a letter to the organisers.

The event drew to a close after a pride flag hoisting.