Bengaluru: Pride March today to highlight discrimination against sexual minorities
BENGALURU: The CSMR (Centre for Sexworkers and Sexual Minority Rights) will be holding the tenth annual Queer Pride festival on Sunday. The event this year will commence at 3 pm and feature a 'Pride March' from Tulsi Park near Upparpet Police Station to Town Hall. Also known as 'Karnataka Queer Habba', the occasion will aim to raise awareness about the living conditions of sexual and other minorities and draw attention to the now prominent LGBTQ community of Bengaluru.
This year's Pride March will also feature Dalits and physically challenged individuals, broadening the horizon to anybody who faces discrimination of any kind. "Despite considerable improvement over the years, there is still discrimination against certain groups," said Yash Sharma, Founder, CSMR. "The goal of the event will be to stand up to discrimination of any kind, whether it is against sexual minorities like gays and lesbians or other marginalized groups like Dalits or physically challenged people," he added.
The protest will also demand the repeal of the much-debated Section 377 of the IPC and Section 36-A (Beggar-Free Karnataka) of the Karnataka Police Act which is said to adversely affect individuals of the transgender community. The festival will also call for the implementation of compulsory gender-identity education in all schools from Standard VIII and above, as well as demand strong action against anti-minority violence.
Apart from sending these messages to the wider society, the event will also reach out to other individuals of the LGBTQ community and other minorities and offer their support. "Through this effort, we want to let all marginalized individuals know that there is nothing wrong with being the way they are," said Rohini Malur, a member of the organizing committee. “As a society, we must learn to embrace differences in people. No individual is the same as the other and that is the message we want to spread. We are all human beings at the end of the day," she concluded.
