Kolkata Rainbow Pride Festival (KRPF) is a Kolkata based open collective of individuals, networks and organizations that support LGBT rights. The collective organizes the annual Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk, which has become the longest-running event of its kind in South Asia. [1]
The organization was formed on 1 May 2011 to take the initiative of organising Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk. When KRPF started its journey, the Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk (KRPW) received a footfall of 500 people and that reached the number of 1500 in the next year, i.e., 2012. [2]
In 2012, KRPF organised an exhibition of paintings, photographs of various artists and posters, pamphlets of several NGOs working on gender and sexuality rights. Fifteen artists from India and abroad, and NGOs from different parts of India took part in this six-day exhibition titled ‘Broadening the Canvas - Celebrating Blemishes’ at the Bengal Art Gallery, ICCR, Ho Chi Minh Sarani. [3]
KRPW runs a number of events such as art exhibits, film screenings, panel discussions, cultural events, and community hang outs.
It organises panel discussions on different social issues which are known as KRPF adda. [4]
Shanghai Pride is a Chinese LGBT NGO who organize LGBT pride events in Shanghai, mainly in the form of art exhibitions and film projections. It was one of the first LGBT event to take place in mainland China. The events organized by the NGO in Shanghai under the appellation 'Shanghai Pride' have been on hiatus since 2020.
Sofia Pride Parade is a peaceful march of LGBT people and their relatives and friends, which combines social and political protest with entertainment such as live concerts. It takes place every year in the month of June in Bulgaria's capital Sofia since 2008. The first Sofia Pride parade was held on June 28, 2008, on the same date as the Stonewall riots in New York City that occurred in 1969. Same-sex sexual activity became legal on May 1, 1968. Between 1968 and the collapse of communism in 1989, no publicly gay movements nor places of social gatherings existed. After democracy was established in 1990, several gay bars and clubs opened doors in the capital of Sofia as well as in Varna and Plovdiv.
The Queer Arts Festival is a multi-disciplinary arts festival produced annually in Vancouver, British Columbia.
India has a long and ancient tradition of culture associated with the LGBTQ community, with many aspects that differ markedly from modern liberal western culture.
Queer Azaadi Mumbai Pride March, also called Queer Azaadi March and Mumbai pride march, is an annual LGBTQIA pride parade that is held in the city of Mumbai, capital of Maharashtra, India. It usually begins from Gowalia Tank ending at Girgaum Chowpatty. It, along with the Pride Week, is organized by Queer Azaadi Mumbai, a collective of organizations and individuals working for the rights of LGBTQIA community. The participants of the march include people from the LGBTQIH community as well their "straight allies", from India and outside. In addition to being a celebration of queer pride, the pride march and related events are a platform to ask for equal rights.
Chennai has LGBTQIA cultures that are diverse concerning- socio-economic class, gender, and degree of visibility and politicisation. They have historically existed in the margins and surfaced primarily in contexts such as transgender activism and HIV prevention initiatives for men having sex with men (MSM) and trans women (TG).
Bangalore is a multicultural city and has experienced a dramatic social and cultural change with the advent of the liberalization and expansion of the information technology and business process outsourcing industries in India. With much expatriate population in the city, Bangalore is slightly more relaxed.
XUKIA is a queer collective based in Assam, India that works for LGBT issues in the region. It is one of the first Queer Collectives to come up in the North East India.
Queer Pride Guwahati was organised for the first time by the members and supporters of the local LGBT community in Guwahati, Assam on 9 February 2014. The Queer Pride Guwahati was the first LGBT Pride in the entire North Eastern India. The Pride is now an annual event.
Orinam is a non-funded, social, and activist collective that works to enhance understanding of alternate sexualities and gender identities among families, communities and society. It was founded in 2003 in Chennai under the name MovenPick and is one of the oldest collective of its kind in India. People affiliated with Orinam are from or trace their ancestry to the following geo-cultural: People of Tamil Origin from Tamil Nadu, India. Orinam provides a platform for creative expression, personal and social commentary by Queer people of Tamil Origin and of Indian Origin primarily. Orinam also acts as a local support group in Chennai for the queer community. Orinam also partners with the city-, state- and national initiatives around decriminalisation of homosexuality by amending Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and LGBTQ rights.
The Chennai Rainbow Pride March has been held by members of Tamil Nadu LGBTIQA+ communities every June since 2009. The pride march is organised under the banner Tamil Nadu Rainbow Coalition, which is a collective of LGBT individuals, supporters, and organizations working on human rights and healthcare for the LGBTQIA community. The Pride March occurs on the final Sunday of June every year. The Pride March is usually preceded by a month-long series of events organized by NGOs and organizations to inculcate awareness and support for the LGBTQ community, such as panel discussions, film screenings, and cultural performances. The Chennai Vaanavil Suyamariyadhai Perani a.k.a. Chennai Rainbow Self-Respect March is known for being inter-sectional in nature as it addresses issues with multiple axes such as caste, class, religion coupled with gender discrimination.
Beirut Pride is the annual non-profit LGBTQIA+ event and march held in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. Established with the mission to advocate for the decriminalization of homosexuality within Lebanon, the event serves as a platform for fostering visibility, acceptance, and equality for the queer community in the region.
Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk (KRPW) is the oldest pride walk in India and South Asia. The first march in Kolkata was organised on 2 July 1999. The walk was called The Friendship Walk. Kolkata was chosen as the first city in India to host the march owing to Kolkata's history of movements for human and Political Rights. Currently, Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk is organised by the Kolkata Rainbow Pride Festival (KRPF).
The Bhopal Pride March was an event held in 2017 to celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) culture in Bhopal, India.
The Chandigarh LGBTQ Pride Walk is an annual march held as part of the "Garvotsava" pride week celebrations in Chandigarh, the capital city of the northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana. The event aims to celebrate and bring together the LGBTQ community and its supporters.
Hyderabad Queer Pride has been celebrated on one of the Sundays in February since 2013. First held on 3 February 2013, Hyderabad became the 12th Indian city to join the queer pride march bandwagon, fourteen years after the first Indian pride march was held in Kolkata. In 2015 it was renamed as Hyderabad Queer Swabhimana Pride, emphasising the self-respect and the acceptance of the community of themselves, as they are. In 2016 it was altered to Hyderabad Queer Swabhimana Yatra and has been retained since.
Bengaluru Namma Pride March is a queer pride march that is held annually in the city of Bengaluru in Karnataka, India, since 2008. The march is organised by a coalition called Coalition for Sex Workers and Sexuality Minority Rights (CSMR). The pride march is preceded by a month of queer related events and activities.
The following list is a partially completed compilation of events considered to have a profound effect on the welfare or image of Tamil sexual minorities. The use of bold typeface indicates that the event is widely considered to be landmark:
Pride De Goa was the official pride parade walk in the state of Goa, India. It was organised by the NGO Goa Rainbow Trust.
Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha, India, held its first Pride Parade on 27 June 2009. Since then Pride has happened in 2010 and then again in 2018. Hundreds of people from Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack and other parts of Odisha take to the streets to celebrate the city's LGBTQ+ Pride Parades.