The Standpoint

DAY THE RAINBOW CAME OUT

By

Karan Deep Singh

On Sunday, 28^th June 2009, Delhi saw an India that no one had ever seen before. India with people clad in innumerable colours, proud, unafraid, while they marched, united for a cause as the city witnessed the second Delhi Queer Pride Parade. The Pride march began at 5:30PM from Barakhamba Road with the rainbow flag as the banner.

Just as expected, the Queer Pride Parade in Delhi was much bigger an event this year with more than 3,000 people participating in the event. From gays, bisexuals, transgenders, intersexed communities to straight people, all joined the march against the IPC 377 which crminalises acts of ‘unnatural’ sex amongst people from the same sex.

While we spotted designer Sunit Varma proudly holding the rainbow flag banner and marching throughout the parade, famous designer, Rohit Bal was seen when the event was nearing its end at Jantar Mantar while he merely posed for photographs and left thereafter.

The march concluded at about 7:45PM with a few speeches by the organisers, proud gay men and women and recitation of few poems. The Parade came to an end with the candle lighting ceremony.

With good news just following the community in a matter of barely five days in the form of Delhi High Court order which puts an end to criminalisation of consensual homosexual sex under Article 377 of the IPC, there are definitely reasons to cheer!

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