This is the month of pride for the city's LGBT community as its annual Queer Azadi Mumbai pride march which is held on Januray 31. Yaariyan, the youth wing of Humsafar Trust launched the first event in the pride calendar on January 4. In the fourth edition of 'queer games', they went back to basics with school sports at Juhu beach.
Lemon and spoon race, three-legged race, tug of war and cardboard race were among the a few games that the community and its supporters played to build visibility in public space. "Besides having a good time, we want to send out a message to the audience that we are LGBT and we are just like them and want the same rights as everybody. There is nothing called a straight place, and with the Supreme Court ruling that called us a miniscule minority, we want to say we exist with basic games for basic rights," said activist Hairsh Iyer.
For every game, participants were charged Rs20 each. The collection will go to Yaariyan, which keeps organising such events.
Navdeep, a research fellow from Hyderabad, said such events are important for the community. "People around will be intrigued and will try to know what is happening. It's important to generate a dialogue and engage with them rather than doing things at our own space. In Hyderabad, the community got together only around three years ago and it is interesting to exchange ideas and see how different the two cities are in their demographics," said the 24-year-old.
Apart from the community, queer allies came out in support of their friends and to show solidarity. Chirag Vithalani, 22, participated in all the events. "More the supporters, better the chances of the law being scrapped. I wanted to make myself count so I came here," said Vithalani who attends queer events and meetings but faces skepticism from his mother. "She is scared that I'll turn gay if I am around them. Our Indian family structure, culture and values are such that they ridicule the community without knowing the mythological aspects of it. I believe what one is from within will never change," he said.
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