Cheers to one of the most needed struggles of our time... On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 12:27 PM, salimtk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Straights to also join Delhi's first gay parade > IANS ,Monday, June 23, 2008 19:56 IST > > http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1173042 > NEW DELHI: Celebrating their pride in their sexuality, gays in the > national capital will, for the first time, march through the heart of > the city on Sunday to proclaim they needed to be treated as normal > human beings. > > Transsexuals and some straights will also be part of the parade, > called 'Queer Pride', with similar marches being conducted June 29 in > Kolkata and Bangalore as well. > > An annual global event, the pride march would simultaneously be > conducted in 20 cities across the world, writer and activist Gautam > Bhan said. > > "The whole programme was planned only two weeks ago when friends from > Kolkata contacted me and discussed about the pride march," Bhan said. > > "We then started getting in touch with people in Delhi and the > response from gays as well as straights has been quite encouraging," > he added. > > " 'Queer Pride' is a celebration. It is about loving who we are, > whether lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 'hijra' or straight, and > affirming everyone's right to be respected for his or her own sexual > choices," Bhan pointed out. > > "It is a celebration of how far we have come and how long we still > have to go," he maintained. > > The parade would begin at 5.30 p.m. on Sunday from Regal Building at > Connaught Place. > > "We will gather at the Regal cinema at the Connaught Place Outer > Circle, then parade our pride along the Inner Circle, through Central > Park, down Janpath and right to Jantar Mantar, where we will celebrate > by singing, making speeches and conducting a candlelight vigil," Bhan > said. > > The activists are inviting everyone to be a part of the parade and are > busy appealing people through blogs and e-mails to join in. The > activists are also fundraising for the event. > > "If anyone wants to be out on the street and yet under cover, they > would be provided masks to cover faces or they can bring something > along themselves," Lesley A. Esteves, a journalist, said. > > Talking about their right not to be discriminated against, Bhan said: > "It is all about human rights. We call India greatest democracy in the > world and keep our head high in Southeast Asia. But we are far less > progressive than our neighbours such as Nepal and Sri Lanka." > > "We should learn from Nepal, which in its new constitution has cleared > that no one would be discriminated against on basis of sexuality." > > "The march would help in instilling a feeling of protection among > those who do not want to come out in the open," he added. > > > > > > > -- Regards Afthab Ellath --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
