After Jaitley’s comments, LGBT community says BJP shouldn’t ‘speak with two mouths’

“If the party is committed to act as they say, then they should file a clear affidavit before the Supreme court in support of the curative petition. It is not enough to stay silent about questions of moral policing elsewhere and then say that you support LGBT rights,” said Gautam Bhan, activist and one of the key organizers of the pride parade.

AIPWA secretary Kavita Krishnan in her speech at Jantar Mantar also called for the Government to take action.

“They can not speak with two mouths. Home Minister Rajnath Singh panders to the conservative homophobic sections while Jaitley says that the Supreme Court judgment was too harsh. They should pass a bill in the Parliament to remove Section 377. Even Congress said it will support it,” said Krishnan.

The pride parade, held on Sunday started at Barakhamba road, winding its way down the Tolstoy marg to Jantar Mantar. The parade saw participation by several hundred people belonging to LGBT community as well as those outside of it.

Tandeep Malhotra, carrying a poster with “Modiji mere mann ki baat, pride ke saath ek raat,” said that the issue of sexual rights needed support from every person. “There must be political will. We need the PM to say that he would support LGBT rights,” said Malhotra.

Many of the slogans openly bashed the RSS-BJP for “moral policing”, while many brought in the issues of larger discrimination into the mix. “We are against all Hinsa,” said activist Dhrubo Jyoti.

“We are not just queer, we are Dalits, Muslims, women, disabled. We want freedom from all forms of oppression,” he added.

Transgender rights activist Lakshmi also targeted “sadhu babas and yogis” in her speech.

“As a Hindu I say that these brahmacharis are demeaning my religion by talking about sex. Brahmacharis should not be talking about sex at all,” said Lakhmi amidst cheers.