Source: Times of India, New Delhi News, DNA India, Hindustan Times, NDTV
A kiss for pride in Mumbai
photo: NDTVMUMBAI -- Sixty-six years after Mahatma Gandhi called on the British to leave India from the August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai, hundreds gathered today in the same park to call on the British Government to apologize for introducing anti-sodomy laws that still make homosexuality illegal in India today.
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was enacted by India's British rulers almost 150 years ago.
"We invoke the Father of our Nation's spirit and call on them to apologize for the legacy of hatred they left us in the form of Section 377," said Manvendra Singh Gohil, the prince of Rajpipla, who issued a statement on behalf of the groups at one of the most well attended gay pride parades that the city has seen.
The call was issued during the gay pride march in Mumbai and is part of a wider campaign to abolish Section 377 which outlaws "unnatural sexual offences" and theoretically punishes anal or oral sex with up to 10 years in prison.
"The idea of treating homosexuals as criminals was imposed on the more tolerant traditions of India and the Union government must abandon this abhorrent alien legacy of the Raj," he added.
Rainbow flags, hats, feathers, masks, and more made for a colorful procession as LGBT persons marched along with families, friends and supporters. Times of India prints an estimate of 500 people in the march.
Colorful march in Mumbai calls for end to anti-gay Indian law imposed by Britain [contd.]
The route took them from August Kranti Maidan to Girgaum Chowpatty -- a route chosen by the organizers for its historic connotations, Times of India reports.
"We are doing it from August Kranti Maidan because we are still waiting for our Independence. India has been free for 61 years, but what do we have? We have Section 377," Laxmi told NDTV.
Organizers described the march as an attempt to cast off the shackles of an outdated legal system.
Organizers hope the Queer Azadi event will serve to raise awareness and sensitize the community at large, says event coordinator and lesbian rights activist Geeta Kumana, of the organizations Aanchal and Infosem.
"We want to show we are visible and to send out the message to people in small cities and towns that they are not alone," she told DNA India. "We're also going to be talking to heterosexuals about the problem homosexuals face."
For the last four years there have been gay pride celebrations on August 16 in Mumbai, but this is the first of the celebrations in three years to include a march. The day after Independence Day was deliberately chosen to symbolize that this minority's freedom struggle is still on.
"For the first time so many groups have come together with a common agenda," says Nitin Karani of Humsafar Trust. "We would want the regressive Section 377 of the IPC, which penalizes homosexuality to be read down. It is used as a tool to harass gays, lesbians and transgenders."
Marchers also called for an end to forced marriages of LGBT people and discrimination on the grounds of sexuality or gender. "We want an end to homophobia and transphobia — an end to violence and hate within families, in educational institutions, at workplaces and public spaces," Karani added.
"This is pride as it relates to India's freedom struggle," says gay activist Ashok Row Kavi, of Humsafar. "We may be free from the British, but we are not free from their outdated laws."
Said designer Krsna Mehta, "It's fascinating that such a simple idea has become this festive celebration, and though it may not be as glamorous as the ones in New York and San Francisco we are getting there."
Even as the story of a resurgent, booming India gets retold time and again, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code punishes those indulging in carnal intercourse 'against the order of nature' with up to ten years in prison.
"This is purely a British law, the British corrupted traditional Indian culture by introducing homophobia into our society," adds prominent gay blogger, Nitin Karani.
The march in Mumbai was close on the heels of the gay parade in Delhi Bangalore and Calcutta this June.
All timed to strengthen the case against Section 377 which is now in the final stages of hearing in Delhi High Court, NDTV reports.
In practice no one has been prosecuted under the law in the past two decades but officials have used it to counter the work of HIV activists in some Indian states, reports The Independent.
The parade had a sprinkling of Bollywood personalities who came out in support of the cause. "Section 377 has to go," said actress Celina Jaitley, who was at the march in a colorful costume with wings, in remembrance of a gay friend who died recently, Times of India reports.
Reema Kagti, director of last year's hit movie Honeymoon Travels Ltd which has two gay characters, echoed the sentiment. "The mark of a civilized society is the way it treats its minorities and it is time India allows its lesbian and gay citizens to lead dignified and honest lives," said Kagti.
Source: LGBT activists protest against Section 377-Mumbai-Cities | Times of India
Mumbai’s gay community rallies for freedom | DNA India
Gay activists in India want British apology for sex law | New Delhi News
Gays, lesbians to march in pride today | Hindustan Times
Mumbai gays hit streets demanding rights | NDTV