Mumbai Pride!

Once I decided to come to India, I started doing some research on the cultural climate to try and get a feel of what I was getting myself into. I knew of course that India as a whole is a typically more conservative than the U.S. The girls here have been told to cover their shoulders and not to wear low-cut shirts, and to travel always travel in groups preferably with at least one male. I sort of knew all this before, but what I didn't know, and am slowly discovering, is India's cultural attitude towards homosexuality.

In my research I found that there is a law in the Indian Penal Code called Section 377, which states that anyone who engages in "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_india) This law was established during the British rule and basically makes homosexual acts illegal. Though this law is written on the books, homosexuality (of course) still exists in india, and in many major cities there is a vibrant gay nightlife.

About a week before I arrived in Delhi in July, the cities of Delhi, Bangalore, and Calcutta celebrated their first every gay pride celebration. The city of Mumbai, which is notoriously liberal and metropolitan, did not participate on that date, but held its pride celebration last weekend on Saturday, August 16th - they day after India's Independence day. This was done purposely to symbolize the fact that while 60 years ago India gained its independence from the British, the LGBT (lesbian gay bisexual and transgendered) community is still bound by section 377 of the British Penal Code.

So...of course I had to go.

My friend and I booked a ticket to Mumbai for the weekend, and I was actually able to get in touch with an international student from Bryant who offered to let us stay with her. It was definitely an adventure getting there, since I still don’t have a phone and everyone else’s got shut off because of Independence day (still not sure why). But we made it safely Friday morning to Mumbai, and took a cab to my friend’s place where we got a wonderfully warm Indian welcome.

Friday night we got to see the city a bit and meet a bunch of our host’s friends. Mumbai is a beautiful city, much more organized and clean-looking than Delhi. It’s sort of like the Manhattan of India since it’s so extravagant and it’s also surrounded by water just off the Southwest coast. There’s also a ton of money in Mumbai, and we were able to eat at some amazing high-class restaurants, bars, and lounges.

We went to bed so late Friday night that we slept-in til about 2pm Saturday, and although we got to Chowpatty (where the parade was supposed to be) we actually wound up missing the first half of the parade because they switched the time at the last minute. We were able to see the end of the parade, where everyone gathered at the beach holding signs, wearing rainbow hats and boas, and dancing on the sidewalk. It was a much smaller gathering than I’m used to seeing in places like Boston or Providence, where their pride celebrations are on such a larger scale, but for India – this was huge. Mumbai had its first official gay pride celebration (which I think might have even been more of a protest) in 2005, but everyone we talked to said that this was by far the most successful one. After the gathering, everyone piled into this little café across the street and got completely drunk and sang along to the Madonna tunes playing over the speakers inside.

It was a truly existential moment being there seeing and talking to all these people who were so excited to have a Pride of their very own. This was a gigantic step forward for India and for the LGBT community.

The next morning we took a taxi out sightseeing for a bit and made sure we got that day’s paper before we left to remember our visit. The flight home was delayed, so we got home much later than we expected, but the flight itself was quick so it wasn’t too draining. All in all it was a fantastic trip that I wouldn’t have missed for the world.

written by  Indiestani on August 20, 2008 from Mumbai, India
from the travel blog: Mumbai
tagged Mumbai and GayPride
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