Tue 1 Jul 2008 In: International News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Men wore sparkling saris, women wore rainbow boas and hundreds of people chanted for gay rights in three Indian cities on Sunday in the largest display of gay pride in the deeply conservative country where homosexual acts are illegal. Gay rights supporters took to the streets of Calcutta, Bangalore and New Delhi to call for an end to discrimination and push for acceptance in a society where intolerance is widespread. "This is a national coming-out party," said Alok Gupta, a lawyer from Mumbai, as he stood among several hundred activists in New Delhi. "This is a simple thing: We are seeking the right to love." This story continues on the Bakersfield Californian website linked below. The Guardian.co.uk has a video of Delhi's Pride Marsh, and spoke to a gay 26-year-old who marched behind a mask, so his colleagues wouldn't recognise him from TV footage.