[Reader-list] Chennai Pride'2014

[A. Mani]

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MEDIA RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, May 30, 2014
Contact:  Siva (98406 99776) and Jaya (98418 65423)

Chennai hosts its SIXTH annual Rainbow Pride beginning June 2014,
celebrating visibility of alternate sexualities and gender identities.
In India, the first Pride march took place in 1999 in Kolkata.
Subsequently, Pride Parades have become a fixture of the Indian
sexuality/gender rights landscape, with marches having taken place in
over thirteen cities to date.

In 2009, local groups and collectives working in the areas of
sexuality, gender identity, human rights and health/HIV came together
under the banner of Chennai Rainbow Coalition, and organized a series
of events in the city culminating in the first march on June 28, the
last Sunday of the month. This march was a precursor to the historic
July 2, 2009, verdict of the Delhi High Court in the Naz Foundation
case, decriminalizing consensual sexual relationships among adults,
subsequently overturned in December 2013.

In January 2014, the Tamil Nadu Rainbow Coalition was formed, with
representatives from most districts of Tamil Nadu, to take the
struggle for LGBTI equality forward in all parts of the state.

This year, Pride events in Chennai will commence in June and continue
through July 2014. They will include cultural performance festivals,
sensitization of educators, parents and other stakeholders on
sexuality and gender-identity issues, poster and placard-making
sessions and film screenings. The Chennai Rainbow Pride march will be
held on June 29, 2013.

This Pride, we bring the following issues to public attention:
We applaud the NALSA judgement of April 15, 2014, in which the Supreme
Court recognized the rights of all transgender people, and held that
discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation are
unconstitutional.

We convey our great disappointment at the Supreme Court's erroneous
December 12, 2013, verdict in the case of Suresh Kumar Koushal where
the court reversed the Delhi High Court's ruling in the Naz Foundation
case. We hope that the curative petition, now pending before the
Supreme Court will yield a positive verdict in reconsidering the
Koushal case.

Based on reactions post-December 2013, we fear that the gains in
acceptance made after the 2009 Naz decision will be lost. Evidence for
this comes from:
o   Increased pressure from parents on their children to marry other
sex partners and thus escape the threat of criminality
o   Increased visibility of doctors claiming to be able to change
sexual orientation, despite the overwhelming medical evidence that
such conversion attempts are both ineffective and unethical
o   Escalating violence and blackmail against community members
following the 11.12.13 verdict

We have also seen an upsurge of support from other quarters: activists
in other social movements who see links between our struggles and
theirs, parents who have been exemplary in their expression of love
and acceptance, celebrities who have openly expressed their
solidarity, all the lawyers who aid our work, and journalists who have
been sensitive and just, to mention a few. We extend our gratitude to
all these allies.

Contact:  Siva (98406 99776) and Jaya (98418 65423)
Email orinamwebber at gmail.com, visit http://chennaipride.net or follow
us on Twitter @chennaipride

Date Event
May 30 Press meeting
June 8 or 15 Literary evening
June 21/22 (evening) Vannangal cultural festival
June 21/22 (day)Transgender law seminar
June 29 Sixth Pride March

Dates of other events such as Candlelight vigil, film screening and
discussion,  college sensitization event, parents' meet and writing
workshop will be announced soon on chennaipride.net
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Best

A. Mani



A. Mani
[Last_Name. First_Name Format]
CU, ASL, AMS, ISRS, CLC, CMS
HomePage: http://www.logicamani.in
Blog: http://logicamani.blogspot.in/