Lucknow celebrates its first ever queer pride parade
April 11, 2017 2:29 AM   Subscribe

Lucknow, India held its first ever LGBT pride parade on April 9, 2017. Times of India provides coverage and shares 40 pictures.
posted by hippybear (15 comments total) 26 users marked this as a favorite
 
Some much-needed positivity!
Love the photos, looks like a great time being had by all.
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 2:57 AM on April 11, 2017


Another article (TOI's popup madness drives me mad) here.

This is great to see, especially in the context of the terrifying new regime in that state, and its new Chief Minister.
posted by Stilling Still Dreaming at 3:19 AM on April 11, 2017 [4 favorites]


Lovely photos.
This is wonderful to see and I wish my fellow bros and sissis every happiness.
posted by james33 at 3:44 AM on April 11, 2017


Sweet.
posted by brevator at 6:20 AM on April 11, 2017


Lucknow apparently is a city of only 3 million people, which is really encouraging. You think of progressive movements in the developing world being limited to megacities like mumbai. Obviously it's still a major urban center, but it's a step towards really widespread support.
posted by bracems at 6:27 AM on April 11, 2017 [3 favorites]


Thank you so much for posting this.

I'd love translations of some of the signs that aren't in English, if anyone feels like providing them!

For those who aren't familiar: A sign that mentions Section 377 is talking about the Indian law (in a bunch of other former colonies of the UK as well) that criminalizes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature".
posted by brainwane at 6:29 AM on April 11, 2017 [3 favorites]


So sweet! A couple of India-specific questions I'm curious about... Like Stilling Still Dreaming, I wonder about the context of the recent Uttar Pradesh elections; I'm imagining Yogi Adityanath will not be a friend to LGBT people. Also seeing this expression of global LGBT culture I'm curious whether hijra feel a part of this kind of event or if they hold themselves out as a separate identity.
posted by Nelson at 8:19 AM on April 11, 2017 [1 favorite]


This makes me incredibly happy except for the first picture in the group of 40 with the rainbow eyebrow which I am very sad I could not pull off because I'd want to do it as often as possible.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:33 AM on April 11, 2017 [1 favorite]


I have a smile a mile wide right now. Hooray for everyone involved!
posted by cadge at 8:37 AM on April 11, 2017


criminalizes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature".

Has Nature ever been called to the stand in any of these cases to testify exactly what that order is? Inquiring minds want to know.
posted by hippybear at 9:43 AM on April 11, 2017


A chance to try to read some Hindi... the yellow sign about halfway down reads

प्यार को प्यार ही रहने दी
कोई नाम ना दी
Pyār ko pyār hī rahane dī
Koī nām na dī
Let love be only love
Give it no name

which turns out to be the lyrics of a song, by Gulzar, from this movie.
posted by zompist at 12:01 PM on April 11, 2017 [3 favorites]


The photos make me very nervous. It is really brave of the participants and organizers but India in general and UP in particular are not very tolerant of 'celebrating the difference'.

I've never understood the support for Article 377. While mainstream hindu society is not exactly jazzed about homosexuality, it's not like we have some sort of God's edict against 'abnormal' sexual relations like in the Abrahamic religions. This is a colonial holdout that needs to go yesterday.

I guess the only cure to retarded legislation is for more people to openly celebrate their identity and defend it in the cultural sphere.
posted by savitarka at 12:40 PM on April 11, 2017 [1 favorite]


Has Nature ever been called to the stand in any of these cases to testify exactly what that order is?

I think we can take the existence of ducks to indicate that Nature has no place in deciding these matters.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 12:46 PM on April 11, 2017 [2 favorites]


Just a quick Lucknow note for a bit more context:

Although Lucknow is now the capital of Uttar Pradesh, it has a long history of its own as the capital of the Mughal successor state of Avadh and center for a courtly culture usually referred to as tahzeeb, which I will not be foolish enough to try to translate; the city today is still known for a certain kind of cultured politeness, among other things.

An easy way to get a sense of this through film: Satyajit Ray's Shatranj ke Khiladi, or "The Chess Players," which is based off a short story (available in English translation) by the early 20th-century writer Premchand, is quite well-known; probably even more well-known in the history of Hindi cinema is the classic Umrao Jaan. Note that you want the original 1981 film, and not the absolutely terrible 2006 remake. Both of these films are based in and celebrate (however much they try to criticize) the 19th-century heyday of the city.

This is all to say that Lucknow, although a small city today by Indian standards, is a very complicated one with a unique culture and history. For better or worse, one of the major stories to come out of the U.P. election was the possibility of the city's most famous kebab shop being forced to close. But just when I was about to write off all this culture as something only celebrated in its absence and flagrant destruction in this worst of all ages, I see something like this that reminds me of what it is still capable of.
posted by Stilling Still Dreaming at 3:38 PM on April 11, 2017 [4 favorites]


Elsewhere in Uttar Pradesh, unfortunately: Racism against Africans in India, from Al Jazeera English
posted by XMLicious at 6:06 AM on April 13, 2017


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