No rain on Delhi’s bike pride parade

On Sunday morning, much before the cafes in Hauz Khas village opened up for brunchers and lunch dates, over 30 bikers set out on Delhi’s first Bike Pride Rally from the narrow lanes of the village. The Bike Pride Rally was organised to mark July 2, when the Delhi High Court decriminalized Section 377 in 2009. That judgement was overturned by the Supreme Court in December 2013.The rally, which was supposed to be conducted from South Ex to Jantar Mantar, had to change routes due to permission glitches.
EQUALITY IN MULTICOLOUR: ‘Our fight for equality will go on,’ said the participants at the rally (BCCL)
No permission, heavy rain - nothing could stop us: LGBTQ members
Abhishek Saini, an activist, told us, “The original plan was to take out a rally from South Ex to Jantar Mantar and we had permission from all the SHOs of the police stations on the route. But on Friday evening, the permission to begin from Jantar Mantar was withdrawn, so we decided to go ahead with a change in the venue.”
Talking about the cause, Harsh Aggarwal said, “We assembled today because on July 2 the decision of decriminalisation of homosexuality was taken by the Delhi High Court. We consider it a victory and hence we can’t let the rains stop us from taking part in the rally.”
(BCCL/ Samik Sen)
In fact, apart from the LGBTQ community members, many biker groups also participated in the rally, which also had some women bikers.
‘It’s a fight for the right to love’
The LGBTQ members said that they are fighting for the right to love and all of them stand together in the cause. Shreya, one of the organisers, said, “It has been drizzling since morning, but the rains should not spoil our procession. It was really amazing to see so many people join us in the rains. And with balloons, shouts and whistles, it was less of a protest and more like a fun activity. We want to send the message that we stand together in this cause and our fight for equality will go on.We will be organising more such activities in the future.”
A number of women bikers also participated in the rally (BCCL/ Samik Sen)
Devi Banerjee with Harsh Agarwal and other riders at the rally (BCCL)