More than 2,000 members of the LGBTQ+ community and their supporters returned to New Delhi streets on Sunday after a three-year break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to press for equal marriage rights.
Dancing to drumbeats, they carried rainbow flags, balloons, and placards as they walked to the Jantar Mantar area near India’s Parliament for more than an hour.
Vishal Rai, a 23-year-old participant in the parade said, “It’s good, it’s fabulous. Because we are here to celebrate ourselves after three years.”
Their hopes have been raised by India’s Supreme Court hearing petitions on granting legal recognition to same-sex marriage. The government is yet to legalize same-sex marriage even though the Supreme Court in 2018 struck down a colonial-era law that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
