Coimbatore: Rainbow Pride March organized by the Sahodari Trust adorned the city in rainbow colours. This march is aimed towards self-respect and acceptance for the LGTBQ community in Coimbatore.
Coimbatore: Rainbow Pride March organized by the Sahodari Trust adorned the city in rainbow colours. This march is aimed towards self-respect and acceptance for the LGTBQ community in Coimbatore.
Rainbow Pride March is organized by Kalki Subramaniam, a transgender activist and the Founder of Sahodari Foundation that works towards the education and enhancing the lives of the transgender people. The march that began in the Government Polytechnic College for Women covered 2.5 km and marked its end at VOC ground. Lesbians, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, college students, Professors, Authors, Writers, Artists, NGOs and many others from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra took part in the Rainbow Pride March.
"Everyone has the right to live, love, and show affection in this country. The love of transgender people, gays, lesbian, queer are being looked down. The court has announced that it is not wrong to get attracted to the same gender, and this pride march is to explain the rights and take the demands to the ruling government" said Kalki Subramaniam.
"The maximum penalty for those who commit rape or abuse a woman should be the same in the case of transgender people too and they should change the announcement made that the perpetrators be granted six months to 2 years of imprisonment" she added.
The rally also emphasized the fact that the families of transgender people are the reason why they involve in prostitution and begging. Instead, families should accept them.
"Furthermore, after the Supreme Court has announced that homosexuality is not a crime by law, the transgender community has started to emerge in front of society without any fear. Moreover, the corporates have started allotting job vacancies for the LGBT community too" said the participants.
During the rally, the participants raised slogans urging their demands. The rally that was supposed to be held on 24th of September, got postponed due to the announcement of threat of terrorist attack in Coimbatore and was instead held today. It is to be noted that the Rainbow Pride March is held after a decade in Coimbatore.