A few hours after the Supreme Court on Thursday announced its historical judgment on Section 377 by decriminalising homosexuality, members of the LGBTQ community gathered here along with their supporters to celebrate the landmark decision.
About 100 people -- mostly young -- became part of the celebrations at Jantar Mantar here on a rainy Thursday evening, singing, dancing and raising slogans of freedom. Several men wore attires which are generally considered to be feminine.
People clicked pictures with the flag, comprising six different colours, which is used to represent the diversity of the LGBTQ community.
"I could sense so much of happiness and enthusiasm when I walked in here to join the queer group in celebrating their day," Augustin Hose, who works with a production house here told IANS.
"As an ally to the people of this community, I feel a sense of relief though this is just the first step and there is a long battle ahead for other rights," he said.
He also said with the Narendra Modi-led central government in power, he was unsure whether the society will be sensitised towards the LGBTQ rights.
"With the current government in power, we can't really say if the society is sensitised and if they will now start accepting these people as a part of them."
Saatvik Singhania Rehani, an undergraduate student at Ambedkar University, expressed how "liberating" the top court's verdict was for him as a member of the LGBTQ community.
"We still don't have the legal rights to marriage and adoption but the fact that we are not criminals anymore is liberating.
"It feels like the country has come to senses and we are progressing towards a better life," the 19-year-old said, adding that he has struggled a lot in his life so far because of his sexual identity.
"I have been implicitly and also explicitly targeted because of it at various occasions, been physically abused. With this order, I can just hope that by the time I enter a workplace the degree of discrimination will be lesser," said Rehani.
A student of Lady Shri Ram College, Katyayni Sharma, a member of the community said that she and others, who joined the celebrations, were not prepared and they will have a major pride march in the coming week.
"There weren't any colours or posters because we were not prepared and also because it rained, but soon we all will gather to celebrate this epic verdict."
--IANS
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