Hyderabad: ‘Why does my marriage bother you when yours doesn’t bother me?,’ ‘Chained by state,’ ‘Honour our dead and fight like hell for the living.’ These were some of the slogans at the Hyderabad Queer Swabhimana Pride march held on Sunday.
Nearly 300 people, not only members of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community, but also civil groups and students from EFLU, Maulana Azad National University and OU participated in the rally which was aimed at restoring the self respect of sexual minorities.
A festive spirit descended on the third edition of Swabhimana Pride as the LGBTQ community carried flower pots similar to the ones used during the Bonalu festival.
Flagging off the march from Goshala in Kavadiguda, Dalit rights activist Dr Kancha Ilaiah said, “No one is superior. The Constit-ution grants us freedom which can’t be denied to anyone on the basis of gender, caste or class.”
“We demand equality as we are not different from anyone. We should not be held at ransom as we are a minority,” said a member of the TS Hijra Transgender Samiti Vyjayanti Vasantha Mogli.
The LGBTQ community presented a list of demands which included implementation of the SC judgement in the National Legal Services Authority vs. Union of India case which decl-ared transgenders as the ‘third’ gender. Other demands were laws for the establishment of the statutory National Transgender Commission and Transgender Commission in all states and repealing Section 377. Sadhak Navadeep Bharat, a researcher from the Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies, said, “Section 377 doesn’t reflect Hindu culture. We request the Centre to rip it apart.”
