Chennai Pride Parade’23

The world celebrates the month of June as Pride Month and the city of Chennai, capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, was one of the quickest to adopt this celebration back in its nascent awareness stage.

The world celebrates the month of June as Pride Month and the city of Chennai, capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, was one of the quickest to adopt this celebration back in its nascent awareness stage. This gradually led to the formation of the Tamil Nadu Rainbow Coalition through the combined efforts of LGBTQIA+ activists and NGOs. Coimbatore, Madurai, and Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, are some cities actively involved in these efforts.

The TNRC hosted the Chennai Rainbow Pride and Self Respect Walk 2023 on the 25th of June this year. The walk commenced outside Rajarathinam Stadium in Egmore and concluded down Langs Garden Road.

While pride events generally take place to create awareness or represent a movement, while not compensating for the intended motive, we also witnessed an inclination towards the perspective of celebration. The crowd brimmed with vibrant hues, beautiful messages and abundant joy.

From first-time Pride walkers to supportive spectators, the gathering comprised a broad diaspora. The event paved the way for witnessing the joy of acceptance through an entirely new perspective. Music and dance added to the exuberating vibrance, a Sunday Funday indeed!

Participants also appeared with a plethora of fashion styling and outfitting. People wore rainbow-coloured socks and t-shirts, and also adorned accessories in a wide range of colours derived from the rainbow. A lot of experimentation has been done to channel fashion as a medium to convey strong messages. It was a unique display of emotions involved in the festival.

People also carried placards with powerful messages about love and compassion. The aim of pausing a moment to have a look, and be positively impacted was fulfilled by these deep quotes

“As a first-timer at a Pride Parade, the overall ambience was full of joy and acceptance, and I felt an air of comfort around myself,” quoted Ms Poornima. End of the day, important occasions like this convey a more profound message than we tend to realise. Acceptance is the key to establishing peace and harmony in society. Embracing one another’s differences and staying united helps us grow as individuals, looking for a better future. What place better to do this than a beautiful democracy like ours? #HappyPrideMonth!

Words by Dhivya Darshini. Visit and pictures by Poornima Santhanam