This Article is From Jul 01, 2019

"What's Normal Anyway?" Over 1,000 Attend Vadodara's Queer Pride Parade

The parade attendees marched through the streets of Vadodara holding rainbow flags and placards with messages that voiced support for the LGBTQ community.

'What's Normal Anyway?' Over 1,000 Attend Vadodara's Queer Pride Parade

The participants danced to the beats of the drums and sang to celebrate their identity.

Vadodara:

Gujarat's Vadodara on Sunday held a Queer Pride Parade which saw the participation of over a thousand members of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Intersex (LGBTI) community.

"We are calling it Vadodara LGBTQ Sammaan Yatra. This parade is being held to push for the equal rights and dignity for lesbians, bi-sexuals, and the LGBTQ community. This is to tell the society that we all have a right to live with dignity," Kartika, a member of Forum Foundation, said while speaking to news agency ANI.

"If the Supreme Court had struck down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which criminalised same-sex relations, then the society should also support us," added Kartika.

The parade attendees marched through the streets of Vadodara holding rainbow flags and placards with messages that voiced support for the LGBTQ community. 

Some of the placards read: "Dad, We Need To Talk" and "What Is Normal Anyway?"

The participants, dressed in rainbow colours, danced to the beats of the drums and sang to celebrate their identity. 

On September 6 last year, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court - headed by former Chief Justice Dipak Misra, comprising Justices DY Chandrachud, Rohinton Fali Nariman, A M Khanwilkar and Indu Malhotra - announced the decriminalisation of homosexuality. 

Section 377 of the IPC is a law that criminalised homosexuality, punishable for a jail term of 10 years. The law punished "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" and thus had bigger implications for same-sex relationships.

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