Hundreds march in New Delhi for gay pride

Hundreds of people danced, sang and cheered in a gay pride parade in New Delhi, the first since the Supreme Court reinstated a ban on gay sex in India.

Multi-coloured balloons, masquerade masks and wings, a huge rainbow flag and a St. Bernard dog ushered in the seventh Delhi Queer Pride parade, with many shaking their hips to drum beats.

Participants chanting "Azaadi" (freedom) and shouting slogans such as "I'm gay, that's OK" carried banners and placards demanding their right to love.

"It is the sixth year (seventh year) it is happening and considering last year the Supreme Court made us illegal citizen. I think it's bringing the fact that on its sixth year more people have turned up than ever before. Not just people, we have got people from straight communities, people from all over the world are coming to support us and I think that is incredibly brilliant. Hopefully with this parade and queer pride campaign, we will be able to create more awareness about LGBT community in India, across the world. Hopefully the Supreme Court changes its mind soon," said Zorian, a parade participant.

Supreme Court threw out a 2009 ruling by court that had decriminalized gay sex, saying only parliament could repeal Section 377 of India's penal code which bans sex against the order of nature.

Some participants said they had little faith that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government would revoke Section 377, despite having a majority in the lower house of parliament.

"I am here to support all my gay friends and the whole LGBT community, and I feel that they should just be themselves, and this is the most fun event I have ever attended," said another participant, Juhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not publicly commented on the issue of homosexuality, although Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had called gay sex "unnatural" in the wake of the December court ruling. Some BJP politicians such as Arun Jaitley have said that gay sex should be decriminalized.

A poster at the parade depicted the Prime Minister's face filled in with the colours of the rainbow, the symbol of the gay rights movement, and the caption "I love Amit Shah", referring to the BJP.

Some of the biggest cheers at the parade were reserved for Dora, a St. Bernard dressed in a T-shirt promoting LGBT rights, brought by her owner, who works at the U.S. embassy.