Gay community to celebrate 'Delhi queer pride' in June

Buoyed by the response they got last year, the gay community will celebrate its diversity by taking out marches, singing and making speeches in the national capital on June 28.
 
'Delhi Queer Pride' will be a public celebration by lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders (LGBT) and intersexed communities, said Arif Jafar, head of Naaz Foundation's Lucknow chapter.
 
"This year it will be held on June 28. The entire community can gather as it will be a Sunday," Jafar said.
 
"It is our celebration. It is about loving who we are, whether lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, eunuch or straight, and affirming everyone's right to be respected for their own sexuality and identity. It's a celebration of our diversity and an acknowledgment that this diversity is a gift," he said.
 
The three-hour celebration will take off at 5.30 pm from Barakhamba Road before concluding at Jantar Mantar.
 
The Queer Pride event dates back to an early morning of June 29, 1969 when police in New York City raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn. The gay men and drag queens refused to be cowed down and fought back.

The Stonewall riots lasted for five days and from then on became a symbol of queer pride and resistance to oppression of the community.

Correction: The Delhi Queer Pride celebration will be held in New Delhi on June 28, 2009, not July 28 as mentioned in the article earlier.