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Madhya Pradesh Is Celebrating Its First Gay Pride Parade Today

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Buddhika Weerasinghe / Reuters

Bhopal's LGBTQ community has come together to celebrate the first pride parade in the state of Madhya Pradesh. For the uninitiated, a pride parade, also at times known as pride marches or festivals is a march involving members of the LGBTQ community and their allies to celebrate love, gender equality, different sexualities, and to fight against heterosexual stereotypes.

According to a report in the Times Of India, the carnival, where the community is also discussing issues important to them, began on May 13.

Local organisations, including the Citizen Action Network, Anmol Seva Sansthan, Mitra Shringar Samiti, and Center for Social Justice, have joined forces to organise the event.

LGBTQ activist Harish Iyer told TOI that it was only with the help of a courageous few that they were able to reach out to the local LGBTQ community. He also said that many people in Bhopal had sent messages to him and others, seeking support. Iyer stressed that if a gay pride parade could happen in Lucknow, there was no reason why one couldn't be organised in Bhopal.

The pride march will start from Van Vihar in Bhopal at 5 pm today and end at Hotel Lake View Ranjit. You can find details of the event here.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.