LGBTs participate in Pride March in the city

CHENNAI: Unmindful of the hot sun beating down on the Marina, Chennai’s LGBT community walked with their heads held high, with slogans of their new found confidence filling the air, as the Pride March came to the city for the third time on a sultry Sunday morning.The Pride March of the previous two years perhaps had more people wearing masks to keep their identities under wraps. This year, there was a visible shift as more people walked without masks, proudly flaunting their identities. According to Sunil Menon, LGBT rights activist, “As I see more people without mask, I will definitely say the pride marches are actually helping us gain confidence of the community. At the same time, the LGBT community feels empowered by the public support they enjoy.”This time around, there were several new faces who walked hand in hand with the members of the LGBT community. A pride first timer, Reena said, “I am here to show my support for the LGBT community. It was really brave of them to come out in public with their identities.”For the first time, the ‘L’ of the LGBT community - the lesbians - came out in the open and participated in the march. Sruthi (name changed) said, “For the pride last year, I was not too confident to show my face. I had covered my face with a shawl. This time, I am happy I am here without any mask.”Transgender women and gays showed up in good numbers proving their comfort levels at visibility. This time, transgender men (women-to-men) also  joined the show. One trans-man even had his mother walking along with him, holding up a placard that stated, ‘I am proud of my son.’Magdalene Jeyarathnam, director, Center For Counselling, said, “I would say the lesbian women and transgender men walking the pride is a huge shift from last year. This goes on to prove the strength of the pride march and how people are slowly opening up.”There were several expats from German and US foreign office as well. The numbers this year could have been a little less than the past two years, which was attributed to the change in timing from evening to morning. This rainbow coloured entourage started from the Labour statue and ended in Gandhi statue.