The first Queer Azaadi March in Mumbai
Mumbai's first Queer Azaadi March takes aim at a British colonial law.
On the afternoon of 16 August 2008, the August Kranti Maidan park becomes a meeting point for queer politics. Where Mahatma Gandhi demanded the withdrawal of the British colonial power with his "Quit India" speech in 1942, around 500 people gather on this Saturday afternoon, according to press reports, many with home-made placards, rainbow flags and sunglasses against the humidity of the monsoon. It is Mumbai's first Pride march officially called the "Queer Azaadi March", and at the same time a deliberate link to the country's history of independence.
India has just celebrated the 61st anniversary of its independence. Yet Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is still in force, a criminal provision from 1860, introduced under British rule, which threatens "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" with up to ten years in prison. Many of the demonstrators know the section from their own experience: as a threat during police checks, as an instrument of blackmail, as a constant legal uncertainty hanging over their own love lives.
At the heart of the rally, therefore, is not only the demand for acceptance but a clearly formulated political concern. Activists read out a statement calling on the British government to apologise for the suffering caused by Section 377. At the same time, they urge the Indian government finally to abolish this "abominable legacy of the Empire" and so make a break with the colonial body of law.
That afternoon, Manvendra Singh Gohil, known as "India's first gay prince", also gave a speech and called on the British to apologise for including Section 377 in the IPC (Indian Penal Code).
Almost a year after the march, there is a legal turning point. In July 2009 the Delhi High Court declares Section 377 unconstitutional insofar as it criminalises consensual acts between adults. For many queer people in India, the ruling is a moment of real azaadi: freedom. But the relief does not last. In 2013 the Supreme Court reinstates criminalisation, saying it is for the legislature to decide. Only in September 2018 does the Supreme Court finally strike down Section 377.