"Parindey March", Pune's 9th LGBTQ pride parade, was organised today, where hundreds of members from the LGBTQ community participated in the march. For the first time ever an Indian couple participated in the pride parade along with all other foreign national couples.
Sameer Samudra and Amit Gokhale, the only Indian couple to participate in the march, tied the wedding knot recently. Their main purpose behind participating in the parade was to spread awareness about their community rights.
The pride parade is celebrated by people of Pune every year. The march started from Balgandharva Chowk, passing through FC Road and later came back to the same starting point.
"The purpose of this pride march is to make the LGBTQ community aware of their equal opportunities and rights so that they can come out of their closet without any fear. People belonging to this community are not able to walk freely in society, they are afraid of revealing their sexuality. So, we celebrate this day in order to spread awareness in the society" Sameer Samudra said.
The Indian couple obtained a marriage certificate for India as well as for abroad. While expressing his views on the status of the LGBTQ community in India, Amit Gokhale said that there is a need for hosting such pride parades.
"The scrapping of Section 377 last year was a step towards bringing a positive change in society. So, I think from that particular time the LGBTQ community here started feeling better about it but still, social acceptance is missing. For that, we need to come together in masses like this parade march to show how many people are there in support of this community.