June is International Gay Pride Month and India is celebrating for the very first time! September 6, 2018 is marked as an iconic day in Indian history as the Supreme Court abolished Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, decriminalising the LGBTQ+ community in our country. This court ruling was crucial, not just for the fundamental rights of individuals but also to move towards a more inclusive, harmonious society.

This year shows a higher participation in the celebration of gay pride. From parades to social media posts, people across all platforms are extending support and encouragement towards the community. With Love is Love as the core message of the Gay Pride movement, here are seven ways in which the people of our nation as well as Indians abroad are celebrating Gay Pride Month 2019.

1. Social Media posts

Actor Richa Chadha, clothing brand Jaypore and many others put up posts on social media to celebrate Pride Month. A tweet by by brain scientist Jiwandeep Kohli (a San Diego native) has gone viral, attracting the attention of former US President Barack Obama. The tweet features a reposted image of Kohli wearing a rainbow coloured turban and proudly portraying his bisexuality. Obama shared it thanking Kohli and complimenting the turban.

 

2. Celebratory parades

Dressed in colourful garb with rainbow coloured flags waving in the air, the streets of various cities in India were sprinkled with people as they celebrated the message of inclusivity and LGBTQ+ pride.

Pune celebrated its ninth pride parade on June 2, 2019, as nearly 600 people marched across town with signs, rejoicing the festivities.

Chennai has planned an entire month of celebrations, organised by Tamil Nadu Rainbow Coalition which will include cultural performances, workshops on mental health, sexuality and gender-identity sessions, plays, film exhibitions and many other activities.

 

3. The Pride Wikipedia Editathon

Feminism in India, Gaylaxy magazine and India HIV/ AIDS alliance made a collaborative effort to eradicate ignorance with the fourth edition of Pride Wikipedia Editathon. Recognising the popularity of Wikipedia, the event strives to improve the quality of content on the pages of pride and queer activists. The editathon works towards adding and editing pages and citations in order to produce better data on the website. The event was held in Delhi on June 15^th.

4. US Embassies in India went rainbow-hued.

Prior to the Trump administration, all US embassies around the world were granted permission to hoist rainbow coloured flags to honour Pride month celebrated every June. However, this year the embassies have been denied the right to do so by the state departments. Unhappy about this, the US embassies in Chennai and Delhi have ‘trumped’ (hehe) the disapproval and found their own  innovative ways to bring colour to their buildings.

The entrance of the US embassy at the Delhi is lit up with rainbow coloured lighting to celebrate Pride, while the Chennai counterpart has defied the denial completely with a massive rainbow coloured flag hoisted above the country emblem.

5.  Dating apps Tinder, Bumble, and OkCupid are swiping right on inclusion

 Tinder recently rolled out an update which will go live in India, US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand throughout the Pride Month – introducing sexual orientations into its signature matching experience.

The idea is to help users share more information about their sexual orientation with options like straight, gay, queer, asexual, bisexual, and demisexual. Taru Kapoor, Gm India –Tinder and Match Group elaborates:
“Tinder has been facilitating connections for the LGBTQIA+ community since inception. With this feature, we’re working towards making orientation expression easier and improving the community’s experience.”

 

Meanwhile, OkCupid, which claims to have more than a million strong user-base in India, collated data through questions on its app that new and existing users answer to match with better potential partners, and came up with the following results:

“Sixty-eight percent of men and 90 percent of women say that they care a lot about LGBTQIA+ issues. Women express greater empathy towards the community than men,” the company shared.

 

 

6. Instagram, Snapchat and Bitmoji are celebrating as well

 

Insta has gone rainbow-hued on gay pride related hashtags such as #lgbt #bisexual, #gay #loveislove #pride and amongst others.

 Don’t miss these super-cute stickers by Snapchat and emojis by Bitmoji.

 

 

7. Manish Arora is doing a Love is Love resort wear collection

 

 Designer Manish Arora’s  Instagram posts have been celebrating Gay Pride all month. He gives us a sneak-peak into his 2020 resort collection, Love is Love.  It looks vibrant, rainbow-hued and dramatic and is the perfect ode to his pride in his gender identity