#PRIDE : Love is Love

#PRIDE

“i want to 377 you like a star falling off the brown­
i want to feel you till my nails turn water
i want to suck you seven different skies
i want to be a squatter in your head when
it sleeps when it’s dark i want to break laws
with you in bed and in streets and in parks”

-Akhil Katyal 

1970

Thousands of people march into New Yo

rk's Central Park during the nation's first gay pride parade on June 28, 1970 on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, when members of the gay community clashed with police who had raided the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan.

2017

Thousands of people gather with colourful costumes, balloons, flags, posters and placards on November 12, 2017 for the tenth annual Delhi queer pride parade.­ The crowd sang, danced and celebrated as people from all walks of life, identifying with different sexual orientations and genders got together at Delhi’s Barakhamba metro station to march till Jantar Mantar.

“CLOSETS ARE FOR CLOTHES.”

This historic protest-cum-celebration represents a milestone ten years of collective struggle to battle all forms of shame, stigma, transphobia, homophobia, and socio-economic hierarchy, at a time when such an assertion of dignity and self-respect grows in need and vitality, said the community’s manifesto.­­

“WE WISH WE WERE HOMOSEXUALS JUST TO PISS OFF THE HOMOPHOBES”

This year, the Pride rainbow flag was a record 15 metres long, and people danced their way to the end under it with dholak walas maintaining the rhythm throughout. Colourful saris, feathered head accessories and balloons were a breather from the dullness of the continuing smog and everyone, from commuters on DTC buses to the Delhi police personnel on duty, was part of a truly public takeover of the streets.

“I don’t understand why they criminalised love. Duh. They are jerks,”

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalises ‘unnatural’ sexual acts such as anal sex, punishable up to 10 years in prison. In 2009, the Delhi High Court declared the law unconstitutional. But that was overturned four years later when the Supreme Court decided it should be a decision for the Parliament not the Judiciary. Last year, the top court said that it would reconsider its decision.

Over the past year, homosexuals have gained some degree of acceptance in India, especially in big cities. Many bars have gay nights, and some high profile Bollywood films have dealt with gay issues.

But being gay is still seen as shameful in most of the country, and many homosexuals remain closeted.

“One, two, three, four.

Break open that closet door.

Five, six, seven, eight.

Stop your folks from assuming you’re straight,”

In a landmark ruling, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court on August 24, 2017 ruled that the right to privacy is a fundamental right, that it is intrinsic to life and liberty and comes under Article 21 of the constitution. India’s Supreme Court has confirmed an individual’s right to privacy – including sexual orientation – under the country’s constitution.

While the judgment will have far reaching implications on a range of government policies and actions, it will also impact the status of existing laws to the extent to which they violate a citizen’s right to privacy – a fundamental right as per the court’s landmark ruling.

The ruling offers new hope for the LGBTQ+ community in India, still living under the homophobic legacy of the British Empire which criminalised same-sex relationships. A formal judgement on the law, is still pending and the hope is that the court will repeal this toxic colonial hangover.

“The Supreme Court has made favourable noises (right to privacy judgment). We have every reason to be optimistic.”

The fight to repealing Section 377 is a long road ahead, but the confidence with which people walked on Sunday marks the end of their so-called “invisibility” in Indian society.

The colours of the rainbow will fall shy in front of the love in the LGBT community.

“We’re here, and we’re queer.

And we’re here to stay.”

#pride

The purpose is ostensibly to celebrate their identity in the face of a society which would rather shame them than recognize them as human beings.

The pride is love that stands tall beyond all odds.

““Miniscule minority” “Miniscule minority”
– the judges kept on barking,
clearly they’ve never been
on a Sunday evening to the
park above the Palika parking.”

-Akhil Katyal

“LOVE IS LOVE.”

-Article by Muskan Sethi

-Pictures by Shagun Agarwal