LGBTQ community holds pride march in south Mumbai

Over 250 members of the LGBTQ community Saturday held a "pride march" from August Kranti Maidan to Opera House and back, in south Mumbai, to highlight issues facing them.

Such pride marches have been held by the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Trans-Queer community in different parts of the country since 2005, organisers said.

While the earlier demand was the decriminalisation of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, current demands include inclusion in workplace, education, marriage, adoption rights, protection against abuse and discrimination, they said.

On September 6 last year, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had unanimously decriminalised part of the 158-year-old colonial law under Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalises consensual unnatural sex.

The community is also opposing the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on December 17 last year.

The bill seeks to define define transgenders and prohibit ...