It was pomp and colour, a mixture of vocal protest and visible pride, as hundreds of citizens took out a march along the busy K.G. Road on Sunday to emphasise equal rights for sexuality minorities.
The ninth edition of the Bengaluru Queer Pride March — held annually on the third Sunday of November — saw participants turn out in their best colours. Over 3,000 people participated in the march, claimed the Campaign for Sex Workers and Sexual Minorities Rights which organised the event.
Some were in black
The rainbow flag flew high, ‘Dykes on bikes’ rallied with their pedestrian marchers, and the costumes sparkled in the afternoon heat as numerous citizens marched towards the Town Hall with chants of freedom and equality. However, amid the colour and pomp were many in black or sporting bands of black — symbolising their anguish against continuing transphobia. Black coffins — representing lives of sexuality minorities lost in atrocities — with boards saying “trans lives matter” were carried out.
“This was a mark of protest against three incidents: the transphobia exhibited by a Kannada TV channel in their coverage; the humiliation of a lesbian couple in a Telugu studio; and, the mysterious death of a transgender outside a Chennai police station,” said Priyank, one of the organisers of the march.
Though the banners calling for the abolishing of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code — which is used to curb down the rights of sexuality minorities in the country — have remained the same since the pride march started in Bengaluru, organisers said the numbers in attendance have shot up. This swell in support is linked to increased awareness and promotion of the march.
Among the demands taken up at the rally were the repealing of Section 377 and the rejection of the ‘Transgender persons (protection of rights) Bill, 2016’ which, the organisers said, violated the right to self-identification; immediate implementation of the Karnataka State Transgender Policy, a ban on surgeries on infants with intersex variations; and compulsory sexual-identity education.
