The police has denied permission for the Queer Azadi Mumbai Pride that was scheduled to take place at the August Kranti Maidan on 1 February.
According to the letter from state authority, permission was denied because anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) slogans and banners against the central government may be raised at the rally.
The parade, which is organised by Humsafar Trust, was supposed to be attended by around 20, 000 people.
“A rally was supposed to be held regarding LGBTQ issues, but the police have received information that, in the rally, anti-CAA and NRC placards will also be shown against the Central government. Hence, we denied permission for this rally,” letter reads.
“Our rights and our freedom cannot be sacrificed in the pretext of security. Queers are not only in the forefront we exist in the margins and in the intersections of caste, religion and region. If any of our identities get affected the whole of us get affected. The CAA, NRC issue is a debatable issue. And there are Queer lives affected by it. Transgenders, queer Muslims are all who would be affected. At this point silencing us, is the biggest violence,” LGBTQ activist Harish Iyer told The Quint.
Every year Mumbai holds the Pride Parade where members from the LGBTQIA community and organisations along with their allies assemble in celebration and to commemorate the queer history.
“LGBTQIA+ struggle is intersectional. They have been oppressed for centuries and so they sympathise with the struggles of all oppressed peoples. It is immoral to deny the oppressed any voices,” one of the queer activists say.
