Date:30/06/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/30/stories/2008063059931300.htm

National

Gays, lesbians take to the streets

NEW DELHI: Hundreds of gays and lesbians on Sunday paraded the streets of Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore, pressing for changes in the law to end their stigma and discrimination.

Dressed in colourful clothes and adorned with tattoos and body piercings, the marchers shouted slogans against Section 377 of the IPC which defines un-natural sexual practices and announced their sexual preferences.

The marchers participating in the “Delhi Queer Pride 2008” rally, the first of its kind here, walked for an hour from Barakhamba Road to Jantar Mantar.

In Kolkata, lesbians, gays and transexuals marched through the streets from College Square to Esplanade East on a ‘Rainbow Pride Walk’ watched by Sunday crowds.

The marches were the first display of gay pride in Delhi and Bangalore.

“This pride march has got a historical connection. Same day in year 1969, police in New York raided a gay bar called Stonewll Inn, as they humiliated and even arrested the people present in the bar. But the people, showing rare courage for the first time, protested,” Shayani Mullick, a gay rights activist, said.

Dancing to drum beats, drag queens (men dressed in women’s clothes) and others wearing “masks” carried a large “rainbow” flag while they held placards. — PTI