LGBTQ members take out 'pride march' in Bhopal

Hundreds of members of the LGBTQ community Sunday took out a colourful 'pride march' in the city.

During the march, which started from Van Vihar gate and ended at Rajneet Hotel, the LGBTQ community members not only celebrated the Supreme Court judgment decriminalising consensual gay sex, but also advocated safe sex to help prevent the spread of HIV.

Wearing colourful dresses and sporting rainbow- coloured wigs, the LGBTQ members danced to the beat of drums during the procession, which passed by the picturesque Upper Lake. Some other members of the society also joined the march to express their solidarity with the community.

Some members were also seen holding placards, which read "Loud & Queer".

Abdul Majid, president of Anmol Samaj Sevi Sansthan, a local organisation which works on the issues affecting the LGBTQ community, has been holding such get-togethers since 2010.

This was the third consecutive year of the LGBTQ pride march in the Madhya Pradesh capital.

"The first such event was held in 2010. Similar marches were held in 2017 and 2018 also," he said.

"I am overwhelmed by the response the event received," Majid said, adding that the community members hailed the decriminalisation of consensual gay sex.

"The march also drew the attention of people towards the issue of safe sex to help prevent the spread of HIV," he added.

In September 2018, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court unanimously decriminalised part of the 158- year-old colonial law under Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalises consensual unnatural sex.