Calling all queer, intersex, transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual people and comrades, friends, families and supporters to march along as we lay claim to this city once again!
Thanks to the amazingly generous queer and queer-friendly community, the Delhi Queer Pride this year too remains funded and organised entirely by the community. We are using the funds raised to buy material that will be given away at the march – masks, small rainbow flags, rainbow scarves (yes they are back!) and leaflets! So come by 2.30 pm on the day of the march and collect what you want.
Things to remember:
– Half of Janpath is blocked due to metro construction, so we have to make sure that we march in such a manner that the traffic does not get disrupted.
– Carry a bottle of water with you and please do not the litter the place with masks, parchis, water bottles etc.
– You are free to bring your own banners as long as they not organizational.
– Floats of any kind are not allowed and neither is distribution of any material by groups.
– In case you don’t wish to take placards, masks, flags etc with you after the march, please leave them on the stage.
Spread the word and bring along friends, lovers, pets and family!
Satrangi Salaam!
Delhi Queer Pride Committee
delhiqueerpride@gmail.com
Delhi Queer Pride 2011 leaflet:
Yes, it’s that time of the year again when we queer, intersex, transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual people reclaim with pride and dignity the streets of Delhi! In our fourth year, we march along with our comrades, friends, lovers and families celebrating our big and small collective victories and demanding the rights of sexually marginalized people all across India and the world.
Just as we have many reasons to cheer, we also have many reasons to be sad, upset and infuriated! Despite the fabulous judgment of the Delhi High Court reading down section 377 of the IPC, queer people in India face violence and discrimination from many different quarters on a daily basis. Lesbians are subjected to violence, forced into marriages, driven to commit suicide by their families. Gay men are blackmailed, often with the support of the police. Hijras regularly bear the brunt of brutal violence meted out to them by the police and others in public and private. Trans people do not have the medical and psychological services that they need. These are but a few examples.
We demand that the government address these issues by:
– Ending violence against the LGBTI community; both from the police and goondas, and also from within the family.
– Enacting an anti-discrimination law that addresses sexual orientation and gender identity issues and protects LGBTI persons by ending discrimination at educational institutions, hospitals, work places, police stations and other state and privately run institutions.
– Ensuring that health services should be provided equally and that the law should forbid surgical and psychiatric medical interventions to alter sex, gender or sexual orientation, unless the person’s complete legal consent is established.
– Setting up of Transgender Boards on the lines of the Tamil Nadu government and the Karnataka government’s initiatives.
– Allowing people to record the gender category of their choice in the Census of India, Voter ID and all other government documents.
– Providing sex education and counseling facilities in schools so that LGBTI youth and parents of LGBTI persons can access these facilities.
So let’s march together to make our voices heard even louder than before and splash the colours of our lives and the full rainbow spectrum of our diversity on the streets of Delhi.
Sunday November 27th 2011, 3.00 pm onwards – assemble at the corner of Barakhamba Road and Tolstoy Marg and end at Jantar Mantar in the evening.
What is Queer?
Queerness is about celebrating our diversity no matter what we call ourselves. Among many other things, queer people can be gay, kothi, lesbian, queen, dyke, transgender, transsexual, bisexual, hijra, butch, panthi, femme, giriya, fairy, MSM, FSF, genderqueer, androgynous, asexual, questioning, bicurious or even heterosexual! Queer Pride affirms our diverse expressions and calls attention to our everyday struggle for respect and dignity.
But even as we affirm all these labels, queerness is also about recognizing and resisting the way fixed categories and preconceptions can hinder the human variety of love, desire, affection, and self-expression