Indian gays and lesbians for rights in Calcutta

ABC ^ | 27-6-2004 | ABC

[CarrotAndStick]

Nearly 300 gays and lesbians have paraded through the streets of Calcutta to push for their acceptance in society on the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in the United States.

The activists, many of them wearing dazzling outfits, held aloft rainbow flags and banners as they walked in silent procession through the eastern Indian city.

"We are just a small bunch of the city's largely invisible (homosexual) people, many of whom are unwilling to come out of the closet," said Rafiquel Haque Dowjah, secretary of the Integration Society which organised the event.

"The aim of the parade is to create an awareness that homosexuals are not sex workers, they are as productive and normal as others," he said.

Mr Dowjah held a colourful umbrella with a message condemning Indian society's prudish attitude towards homosexuality.

"We are living in a society where homosexuality is either covered up, ignored or treated as a disease," it read.

The Stonewall riots were a series of violent confrontations between homosexuals and police officers in New York which followed a raid on June 28, 1969, by police on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village.

The procession in Calcutta attracted the attention of passers by and residents who flung open their windows or crammed onto their balconies to watch.

Activists welcomed the attention saying they hoped it would lead to greater awareness and acceptance in society.

India's courts are reviewing laws that, while rarely enforced, make consensual gay sex an offence punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

While there are few open homosexual communities in India, the western metropolis Bombay and the southern hi-tech hub Bangalore enjoy reputations as more hospitable to gays and lesbians.

--AFP

[evolved_rage]

"We are living in a society where homosexuality is either covered up, ignored or treated as a disease," it read.

And real estate is cheaper too. Now if they could only do something about the omnipresent stink, it would be paradise,

[End Times Sentinel]

Allow me to be the first...

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Owl_Eagle

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