Marina Beach, Chennai Pride March

I first visited Marina Beach the evening of Saturday, June 27 with a colleague from work. As I didn't have my camera then, I decided to return the next day and take some photos. At 13 km, it is one of the longest beaches in the world, and very wide too. It is popular during the day and more so in the evening, with cool breezes blowing in from the Bay of Bengal. There are many stalls offering snack food and souvenirs, merry-go-rounds and ferris wheels for small children, and balloon target practice games for older beach goers.









People go to the beach to visit and spend time with their families and friends. Cricket is hugely popular - I must have seen at least two dozen matches in progress on Sunday afternoon. A few people were riding horses and some brave souls were playing in the waves. The current is very strong here and there are no life guards, so swimming is not recommended.





Fishing families also live and work on the beach. They were especially hard hit when the tsunami struck on December 26, 2004, which claimed 206 lives in total in Chennai.



A friend explained to me that the beach is also a place to say a final farewell to someone who has passed away. I saw two separate groups of people near the water, preparing to commit the ashes of a loved one to the sea.

On the Sunday I was there, local activists held Chennai's first ever Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Pride March. About 200 LGBT people, family members and supporters joined in the march along the Marina Beach road. The theme for the march was inspired by Tamil poet Mahakavi Subrahmania Bharathi: "Hues may vary, but humanity does not."



The event was both celebratory, with some colourful costumes, and political, with marchers calling for the repeal of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalizes same-sex activity. Onlookers appeared to be mainly amused and curious, but since I don't understand the local language, I was undoubtedly missing some of the reaction. The march proceeded peacefully, albeit temporarily displacing several cricket matches on the road. Several marchers wore masks, concerned about serious consequences if they were to come out. However, at the end of the march, participants were celebrating.

Post Script: On Thursday, July 2, 2009, the Delhi High Court "read down" Section 377 and decriminalized same-sex activity between consenting adults, and read "sexual orientation" as one of the prohibited grounds of discrimination of Article 15 of the Indian Constitution. It appears that the decision applies across India. The ruling is in response to a case brought forward in 2001 by the Naz Foundation (India) Trust, an HIV/AIDS service organization, with subsequent support from Voices Against 377, a coalition of groups in favour of the change. The Times of India has devoted pages of articles to the topic over the past two weeks.