Gay activists march in India's gay pride parade
Pastor Dale Morgan
Gay activists march in India's gay pride parade*
By SAM DOLNICK
The Associated Press
Sunday, June 29, 2008; 12:38 PM
NEW DELHI -- Men wore sparkling saris, women wore rainbow boas and
hundreds of people chanted for gay rights in three Indian cities Sunday
in the largest display of gay pride in the deeply conservative country
where homosexual acts are illegal.
Gay rights supporters took to the streets of Calcutta, Bangalore and New
Delhi to call for an end to discrimination and push for acceptance in a
society where intolerance is widespread.
"This is a national coming-out party," said Alok Gupta, a lawyer from
Mumbai, as he stood among several hundred activists in New Delhi. "This
is a simple thing: We are seeking the right to love."
While small groups have marched in the eastern city of Calcutta in
recent years, Sunday's events were the first gay pride parades in
Bangalore and New Delhi. Several hundred people turned out at each of
the three events.
The marches came days before the Delhi High Court is expected to hear
arguments on overturning a law against homosexual sex that dates to the
British colonial era. The law, which forbids sexual acts "against the
order of nature," carries punishment of up to 10 years in prison.
The law is rarely enforced, but activists say it sanctions discrimination.
"Discrimination is widespread because there is no protection or law or
societal understanding," said Lesley Esteves, 32, a gay rights activist
who helped organize the New Delhi parade. "There's discrimination in the
workplace; there's discrimination in the family _ it's on every level."
Despite the festive mood Sunday, fear of discrimination was evident
among the crowds in New Delhi. Many of the marchers wore rainbow-colored
masks so their friends and families wouldn't know they were gay. Many
others declined to speak to journalists.
Some, however, were happy to announce themselves to the public.
"I want people to see us, to talk to us, to become acquainted with who
we are and how we feel," said Kangan Ratra, a lesbian in New Delhi. "The
first step is to see us. The next step is to understand us."
The protests in all three cities were peaceful, though the number of
police and journalists likely matched that of the marchers.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, a senior leader of India's main Hindu nationalist
party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, said he opposed the gay activists'
march and called homosexuality "unnatural."
"I don't think it will be accepted in our country. Most of the people
are traditional people, religious people, and it will not be accepted in
Indian culture," Naqvi said.
Naqvi said BJP supporters did not protest the march because "we are not
going to give importance to such behavior."
Still, there are signs that homosexuality is becoming more accepted in
India, at least in big cities. In New Delhi, gay and lesbian groups hold
biweekly movie screenings and parties, and organizers say attendance is
rising. Newspaper editorials have called for revisions to the law, and
prominent writers and activists have signed petitions expressing their
support.