LBGTQ people in India have held their first Pride parade since the end of a gay sex ban.
The streets of capital city Delhi turned all the colours of the rainbow on Sunday (25 November), as India held its first Pride parade since the historic decriminalisation of homosexuality in September this year.
Thousands of LGBTQ people and their allies joined in the Delhi Queer Pride Parade celebrations, with many holding signs reading “Love wins” and “Adios 377”.
Parade organisers said it was the largest march since 2007, when the parade began.
“It’s the first time we are not marching as criminals,” said Deepti, one of the organisers from the Delhi Queer Pride Group, to SBS News. “People are marching with freedom and zero burden.”
The successful Pride parade comes after India’s Supreme Court overturned a colonial-era law, Section 377 on the Indian penal code, which penalised intercourse “against the order of nature” with a sentence of life imprisonment.
Section 377 was rarely enforced in full on LGBTQ citizens, but lawyers had argued that it contributed to a culture of repression and fear amongst India’s LGBTQ community.
Check out photos of the Pride parade from social media below.
At the #DelhiPrideMarch pic.twitter.com/8c3qkBVPl0
— Karnika (@KarnikaKohli) November 25, 2018
Colors at Delhi's Queer Pride March on Sunday evening.
Draconian 377 gone, a self assured community marches towards more equalities #DelhiPrideMarch pic.twitter.com/bt117aRI5c— Paras.Singh (@appriseParas) November 25, 2018
#DelhiPrideMarch pic.twitter.com/jiF9LFSl4P
— Sonalllll 😅 (@SonalHayat) November 25, 2018
Delhi's all set for its first #PrideParade since the decriminalisation of homosexuality #Section377 #Pride pic.twitter.com/OlXr4cd5yI
— Delhi Times (@DelhiTimesTweet) November 25, 2018
Here’s to us! #DelhiPrideMarch 🌈 pic.twitter.com/rekJdLmwWW
— Tarushi Varma (@tarushi_varma) November 25, 2018
Age no bar at the #pride. #DelhiPrideMarch @TheQuint @QuintNeon pic.twitter.com/KBRpxGCj1v
— Priyanka Bansal | پریںکا (@priyankapranks) November 25, 2018
Delhi Queer Pride 2018.
Happy streets, happier cities.
For many more!
– the post 377 India#PrideSpeaks #RainbowLove #Together #FightOn pic.twitter.com/oDp7jXd7kr— Aditya Bhandari (@adityabhandari1) November 25, 2018
Happy pride to everyone back home! Wish I could’ve been there omg 😭😭😭 (me at pride two years ago; major missing) 🏳️🌈 #DelhiPride #DelhiPrideMarch pic.twitter.com/3QVzDPvi56
— Pree (@PreeMedDiaries) November 25, 2018
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