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Rainbows have been synonymous with gay pride since the 70’s—colours run amok, people proudly own their identity, and push for their rights. Once it was made an official symbol in 1994, there was no going back. Every pride parade meant painted faces as bright as the flag, and attire to match. While India’s parades aren’t celebrated on the same scale as America’s, they’re still quite a display of pride and colour.
Every year, major cities in India organize pride marches with less restrictions. You come as you are, and expect nothing but love and acceptance. Those are the ground rules. However, Pune’s Pride March this year has been in the news—first, because it was being led by a non-LGBTI grand marshal. And second, because Bindumadhav Khire, President of the Pune-based Samapathik Trust, which organises the Pride March every year, began laying down rules many felt were restrictive. Khire has reiterated, that these ‘restrictions’ have been existent from the very first city pride march.
While most of his rules have been laid down through his Facebook posts on the same, in short, he has requested people to not dance or play the dhol, and to dress ‘decently’, thereby reducing the pride march to a rather sombre affair. He reasoned, “Pune’s pride march has always been a conservative one. We don’t want people to dress in a manner that embarrasses the community. There are families joining us and it wouldn’t be right if we allow people to simply have fun and not work towards our cause. Some people even get drunk during the march and misbehave—we would want to avoid all that.”
While it is understandable that Bindumadhav will be held accountable to the police if anything untoward happens, and he has rightly stated that others are welcome to organise their own pride marches with their own rules, his statement seems to have divided the LGBTQI community. Some members deemed it harsh to shut down a major part of the parade, by enforcing such rules, voicing their own opinions about the same. A transwoman, Sonali Dalve, told the Pune Mirror, “Khire has always boasted about his work but he never really did anything for the transgender community. He has been rude to many of us and he has often asked members to behave properly. If there are parents walking beside us then it is a given that they have accepted us the way we are. Why does anyone have to hide anything?” But many in the community have also come out in strong support of Khire, citing that to jeopardize all that Khire has done for the community, both at a grassroots level and beyond over the last 15 years, is unfair and incorrect. If any unpleasant incidents occur at the march, it will be Khire and his fellow organisers who will be summoned by law enforcement.
The article has been edited at 18:54 p.m. 6 June, correcting a factual discrepancy stating Mr. Khire was a non-LGBTQI individual. We apologize for any misleading information.
Feature Image Credit—TheBetterIndia
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