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Pride parade likely soon in Dehradun
An NGO made efforts at uniting the community and presenting their problems before departments. The members of the community have started interacting and now come out with a promise to support the fight for their legal rights
Members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community are planning to take out a pride parade here -- walking with colourful bands in hands, raising flags and demonstrating for their legal rights.
The road to this campaign has not been a cakewalk. With roughly 5000 LGBT people, according to non-government organisations, the idea of organising a pride walk on the lines of Delhi, Mumbai and even Nagpur did not take off in Uttarakhand.
Poor synchronisation among members of the community resulted in little communication with the government over the years. In the last one year, SEAD NGO made efforts at uniting the community and presenting their problems before departments, including police, and politicians.
“We are trying to maintain a dialogue between members of the community so that their bond can strengthen, following which we can do activities for their rights,” said Kusum Ghildiyal, who runs the NGO.
One of the biggest challenges had been linking eunuch deras (where they live in groups) with the rights of the community. Financially independent, the deras had been difficult even for health officers to penetrate with regard to HIV sensitisation. Over the years, the members of the community have started interacting and now come out with a promise to support the cause.
“We have the support of some of the top hijra deras and are hopeful to take out the walk soon,” Tejas, who is organising the walk, told Hindustan Times. Getting approvals from the district administration and police is now a challenge.
“We are running from pillar to post to get access to police and district administration for taking out the walk. We haven’t finalised the date, but most likely we might do it on July 30,” Tejas said.
The State Aids Control Society (SACS) is looking forward to partnering with the event that will celebrate the beauty of the community.
