The day Delhi came out of the closet and painted the town Rainbow!

About 5,000 people came out in solidarity with the LGBT community as they took to the streets to celebrate the 8th edition of The Delhi Queer Pride on Sunday, 29 November. The stretch from Barakhamba Road to Jantar Mantar was filled with happy people dancing to drum beats, as they raised slogans for an inclusive society.

The Pride this year was not just about LGBT rights and acceptance, but was also about raging issues that has gripped the social and political discourse. People raised slogans against intolerance, moral policing, caste, class, religion, disability or the ability to express dissent, and demanded laws that would prohibit any kind of discrimination.

Govindi Arora, an active member of Tagore International School's 'Breaking Barriers', a one of a kind Queer Support Group, said "We come to the Parade each year with the same enthusiasm, in solidarity with Love and Equal rights. Our group consists of students from class 9 to 12 and we hold workshops to spread awareness."

Slogans of “I’m gay, that’s ok” and “Humein kya chahiye? Azaadi” (What do we want? Freedom) echoed through the parade. The Pride also saw activists from the Occupy UGC movement, Dalit rights movement, Happy To Bleed and FTII, who spoke out on the need to demand collective freedom from patriarchal oppression.

Taruna Hooda, a Pride participant said, "I had a really good time, and the turnout was much better this year. There was lot of solidarity among people and everybody was very hopeful and so was I."

The Pride comes after Finance Minister Arun Jaitely and his predecessor P Chidambaram mentioned a relook at Section 377 of the IPC that criminalizes consensual sex among gay adults. At Times LitFest, Mr Jaitley said that the Supreme Court should not have reversed the Delhi high court ruling. They added that top court's view was not in sync with contemporary legal thought on gay rights across the world.

Renowned LGBT activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, who was present at the Pride, said "They [politicians] need to stop the hypocrisy and discuss Section 377 in the Parliament".

"I'm glad that finally someone from the current government is speaking up on 377, even if the person has only gone as far as just saying that it's not in accordance with legal jurisprudence," says Kavitha (name changed on request).

"However, Mr Jaitley is very slyly skirting the lines, playing between being liberal and noncontroversial by not admitting what 377 is, which is unconstitutional and a violation of basic human rights. While he said that there is a landmark judgement that has resisted the govt many a time, he hasn't explained why it's only the court's fault; the court has repeatedly asked the govt to bring 377 up in the parliament and take legislative action against it by amending the constitution, " she added.

Shashi Tharoor also took to Twitter saying that he would introduce a private member’s bill, and that 377 should be scrapped.

Alina Tiphagne, who was one of the performers at the event, said, "For the first time we included other minorities in the Pride, my band tried to do the same in our performance. We tried to create an atmosphere where people who are not out can be motivated through our songs."

The rainbow flags, balloons, colorful people dancing on the streets together, transformed the otherwise smoggy and gloomy Sunday into a day full of festivities, where people, straight or queer, young or old, marched shoulder to shoulder in solidarity.