#LoveIsLove: Pride parades across India since the first in 1999
The month of June marks the Pride month to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots, which triggered the Pride movement globally. While Pride marches started off as early as 1970 in the United States, India had its first only in 1999. Ever since, the queer rights movement has spread to different parts of the country. Here are all the cities where Pride marches are held.
Since the first, Kolkata has held 17 Pride marches
The very first Pride march, 'The Friendship Walk,' was held in Kolkata on July 2, 1999, with about 15 participants. Thereafter, Pride marches were held on-and-off for about a decade in the months of June/July, before the 'Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk' became a regular annual affair in 2011. Since 2015, they're held in the month of December. Last year's Pride was the city's 17th.
In 2008, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru held Pride marches
In the national capital, Pride marches have been consistently organized every year since 2008. The 'Delhi Queer Pride Parade' is held in November. Similarly, the 'Queer Azaadi Mumbai Pride March' was first held in 2008 and has been celebrated every year (barring 2010) since, usually between January-March. The 'Bengaluru Namma Pride March' has also been consistently held in the city each year since 2008.
Soon, Pride events spread to non-metropolitan cities
The 'Chennai Rainbow Pride' has been held every year in June since 2009. Bhubaneswar held its first Pride parade in 2009 and has continued to do so. Last year, the city witnessed its seventh Pride march in September. In 2010, Kerala witnessed the state's first Pride parade in Thrissur. Last year in October, the 'Kerala Queer Pride' held its ninth Pride event.
Just this Sunday, Pune held its ninth Pride march
Since 2011, 'Pune Pride' has been a regular annual pride parade, Maharashtra's second after 'Queer Azaadi Mumbai Pride March,' in variable calendar months. Pune's ninth Pride was held on Sunday. In July 2012, Tamil Nadu's Madurai held South Asia's first 'Gender Queer Pride Parade.'
In 2013, Surat, Hyderabad, Chandigarh joined in
In 2013, Surat held Gujarat's first-ever Pride parade. Ahmedabad also hosted Pride parades in February 2018 and 2019. The same year, Hyderabad, in February, and Chandigarh, in March, also held their first Pride marches: the 'Hyderabad Queer Pride' and the 'Chandigarh LGBT Pride Walk.' Both cities have continued to host annual Pride events ever since.
Guwahati held first Pride parade in 2014
Vadodara, Gujarat, held its first Pride march in 2014 and has since hosted three of its 'Vadodara LGBTQ+ Samman Yatra' events. Since the first 'Queer Pride Guwahati' in 2014, the city has organized six Pride events. The last Guwahati Pride was held in February earlier this year. From 2015 to 2017, Jaipur organized the annual 'Queer Gulabi Pride Jaipur' march.
The rest of the cities which have celebrated Pride
After Nagpur's first 'Orange City LGBT Pride March' in 2016, it's been held every year between January-March. Lucknow organized the third 'Awadh Queer Pride' this year since the first 2017. Bhopal has held two Pride parades since 2017, while Jamshedpur has held two since 2018. Additionally, Bhawanipatna (Odisha) held a Pride march in July 2012; Gurugram in June 2016; and Dehradun in July 2017.
