Same demands,same pride,similar stories behind masks

“We don’t take any sponsorships. Like every year,money has been raised through a fundraising party that was held earlier this month,” said Mohnish Malhotra of ‘Queer Delhi’,one of the organisers.

At Jantar Mantar,where the Pride Parade culminated,an hour-long celebration followed. The participants shouted slogans,denouncing violence against the LGBT community,saying they had vowed to not succumb to the discrimination that they have suffered for years.

The concert and the after-party that followed,was for the more elite,those who could afford the tickets. Abhina Aher,who showed up wearing a shimmering grey dress,said she was not planning to go to Lalit Hotel. She said she had come to the protest street,a continuing space of democracy,to show her solidarity with the movement.

“We have been left out. We need recognition. We need to make sexual reassignment surgery legal in the country,” she said.

Among the slogans shouted and agenda outlined,the members voiced their own issues of gender identity saying the government must look at Tamil Nadu,that has taken many proactive steps to reach out to the community. The Tamil Nadu government has constituted a welfare board to look into the community’s issues.

Others,meanwhile,pressed for sex education in schools,the need to sensitise officials and to keep the movement strong.

The participants also observed silence for the eunuchs who died in the Nand Nagri fire.

Even as the parade came to an end,the celebrations continued with participants congratulating each other on “being reborn”.