Mumbai Pride 2019: First march post-Section 377 verdict sees city's queer community, allies celebrate
Mumbai witnessed its 14th Pride Parade on Saturday, 2 February 2019. It was the city’s largest pride march yet, also its first after the September 2018 judgment decriminalising homosexuality.
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Mumbai witnessed its 11th Pride Parade on Saturday, 2 February 2019. It was the city’s largest pride march yet, also its first after the September 2018 judgment decriminalising homosexuality. Photo by Sahil Jagasia for Firstpost
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The landmark September 2018 judgement by the Supreme Court of India, which struck down parts of Section 377, has been a significant turning point for the equal rights movement here. Photo by Sahil Jagasia for Firstpost
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Speeches by the organisers of the Mumbai Pride Walk — representatives of the Queer Azaad March (QAM) and The Humasafar Trust — were prologued by the sounds of the Nashik dhol at Nana Chowk. Photo by Sahil Jagasia for Firstpost
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Traversing through Nana chowk, Opera House and Kennedy Bridge, around 15,000 participants — members of Mumbai’s LGBTQ community and also visitors from other parts of the country — collectively celebrated the the Supreme Court judgement decriminalising homosexuality. Photo by Sahil Jagasia for Firstpost
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Walking along in support of members of the queer community were also allies — parents of queer children — making a statement with their flamboyant dressing, raising rainbow flags, and chanting slogans like “Janam Diya Hai, Saath Bhi Denge”. Photo by Sahil Jagsia for Firstpost
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Amidst the slogans supporting #PrideForAll, which was also this year’s official theme, one also saw representation of communities caught at the intersection of political, social and gender rights. Their numbers may have been small, but their voices were powerful indeed. Photo by Sahil Jagasia for Firstpost
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Vocally establishing that PRIDE as a movement (in India and elsewhere) needs to be inclusive of protests against discrimination and exclusion of marginalised communities that don’t make the cut to the privileged urban queer, students from TISS’ queer collective chanted slogans like - “Patriarchy Down Down”, “Islamophobia Down Down”, “ Brahmawaad ho barbaad", “Jatiwaad ho barbaad”. Among these were also slogans against the Transgender Persons Bill 2018 and The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill 2018. Photo by Sahil Jagasia for Firstpost
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2019 is an important year for the LGBTQ community in India. With Sikkim having conducted it’s first-ever Pride Walk on 27 January, and four other marches scheduled in Lucknow, Hyderabad, Nagpur, and Chandigarh within the next month, India can expect to see a year-long celebration of the 2018 verdict in the form of LGBTQ events across the country. Photo by Sahil Jagasia for Firstpost
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