Gay Community in India Comes Out to the Streets

Gay protesters demanded Indians be allowed to record gender of their choice in the census and other government documents. Photograph: Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Gay rights activists sang songs and carried rainbow-colored flags while marching to the beat of drums on Sunday, as they paraded through India's capital to demand an end to the stigmatization of gay people in the deeply conservative country.

The demonstrators urged an end to all forms of discrimination against gay men, lesbians and transgender people in India, four years after a colonial-era law that criminalised gay sex was overturned.

One group of activists carried a 15-metre (50ft) rainbow-coloured banner, while others waved placards demanding the freedom to lead dignified lives.

The march ended with a public meeting at Jantar Mantar, the main area for protests in Delhi. Many gay rights activists and their families danced and sang as drummers and musicians performed. Others distributed rainbow-coloured flags and badges to members of the public who had gathered to watch and listen to the speeches.

Many demonstrators had come to the march to express their support for the gay community in the city.

Ashok Chauhan, an advertising executive in his mid-40s, said he cycled 8km (five miles) to the parade to support his friends in their choice of sexuality. "It's a matter of choice, and I think each one of us has the right to choose," Chauhan said.

The activists also demanded that people be allowed to record the gender of their choice in the national census, voter identity cards and other government documents.

In 2009, the Delhi high court decriminalised gay sex, which until then had been punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

In some big Indian cities, homosexuality is slowly gaining acceptance, and a few high-profile Bollywood films have dealt with gay issues.

Still, many at the march on Sunday covered their faces with scarves or wore masks because they have not told their friends and families about their sexuality.

Source: the guardian.com.uk