Celebration of pride returns to capital city as 13th Kerala Queer Pride set to take place in Thiruvananthapuram

The 13th edition of Kerala Queer Pride is happening in Thiruvananthapuram, spanning over four days with multiple cultural and academic events scheduled to take place. LGBTQIA+ activists, members, students and so on will take part in the programme happening in the state capital.

Ernakulam-based media professional, Athul PV’s association with the Kerala Queer Pride can be traced back to its fourth edition in Thrissur. While he had friends who were part of the queer community, Athul had to wait until his family found out that he had participated in the controversial ‘Kiss of Love’ protest in Kochi in 2014 against moral policing, to attend a pride meet. Athul’s acquaintances spotted him attending the demonstration and informed his parents.

“The protest was at Marine Drive. My parents got to know this and they asked me why I was there,” he says. Athul’s parents further questioned him on why his interests had been piqued for this specific cause. This interrogation resulted in Athul finally coming out to his parents as a queer person, followed by his parents neglecting him from there on.

In the same year, Athul attended his first Kerala Queer Pride, having been inspired by his fellow LGBTQIA+ activists who pushed him forward to be an advocate for this cause. “I entered into activism seeing a lot of them, thinking I want to be the same way they are. I wanted to be free and open about who I was,” says Athul.

A decade later, Athul is now part of the organising committee that is conducting the 13th edition of the Kerala Queer Pride in the city, which hosted the meet previously in 2015. The Pride, which starts on Thursday (October 17), spans over four days and has multiple events spread across venues such as Bharat Bhavan, Gandhi Park and Manaveeyam Veedhi. Academic and cultural events such as panel discussions on LGBTQIA+ community rights, a student meet-up, film screenings, a DJ night, an exhibition by queer artists, stalls set by queer entrepreneurs and so on are part of the event. It will conclude on October 20, with a pride march starting from the Secretariat and ending at Manaveeyam Veedhi. 

“In a lot of other places, the Pride limits itself to celebrations. However, in Kerala, we put it forward as an academic intervention as well,” says Prijith PK, one of the organisers.

A student summit will be held on October 18 at 10 in the morning in Bharat Bhavan. Sabari Kishore, 34, believes the summit might be a good stage for conversations without prejudice. He adds, “There is a lot of bullying that happens in schools and colleges. Despite being a cisgender male, I used to be bullied for having soft-masculine features in school. So, it would be a good opportunity for the queer students to meet each other and openly talk.”

Sabari, who attended the second edition of the Pride meet in Ernakulam says a lot has changed in these events. “When I had started, a lot of people used to wear masks and attend the meets but later on more and more people have found the courage to come forward without masks,” he says.