India: Gujarat celebrates first Pride

More than 100 people turned out for the parade, many wearing masks and scarves to hide their faces

More than 100 LGBT people and their allies danced and walked through the streets of Surat in the state of Gujarat, India, in celebration of Gujarat’s first Pride, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Parade organizers say it took a long time to obtain permission to stage the event.

In a video report, BBC reporter Neha Bhatnagar says the participants, including employees of multinational corporations, graduate students and TV actors, walked under police protection, covering a two-kilometre route.

Just last month, India saw the launch of what is being hailed as the first-ever LGBT radio station, aimed at creating “awareness and acceptance of alternate sexualities.”

The programming and operations manager of Qradio, an online station meant to bring the LGBT community and its issues into the mainstream, has said the focus of the content will be on documentaries, Pink News reports. Programming is now in English and Hindi, with plans in the works to introduce other regional languages, the report says.

Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.

Keep Reading

Collage with two hands holding a bat, swinging towards a baseball with a dollar sign on it, against a blue background with a net, baseball player and the Olivia logo on an outfield sign

Why the WPBL partnering with a lesbian travel company matters

Support from lesbian brands and bars harks back to the queer history of women’s sport leagues
Confluence cover

‘Confluence’ brings Vancouver’s queer history to life

The late Alex Turner and his husband, Lucian Childs, have written a unique and rewarding ode to mid-century gay British Columbia

Gaudy goddess: Self-described backwoods Barbie, Dolly Parton, chats about boobs, Broadway and battling hate

Revisiting Matt Thomas’s interview with the legend, originally published in fab Magazine in 2009

Dolly Parton was all of our chosen family

The superstar, who passed away at age 80, was always there for her queer fans. We collectively mourn her loss
Advertisement