Kochi sports rainbow colours to mark Pride Month

Decked-up SWTD boat flagged off from Ernakulam jetty

A boat of the State Water Transport Department (SWTD) operating between Fort Kochi and Ernakulam sported rainbow colours on Saturday.

Passengers walked into the boat decked up with the six-colour rainbow flag associated with the LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Intersex Asexual and Others) community, balloons and festoons, as they were made aware of the Pride Month being observed by the queer groups. The boat was flagged off from the Ernakulam jetty at 11 a.m.

Queer groups observe June as the Pride Month in honour of the six-day-long Stonewall riots after the police raided a gay club called the Stonewall Inn in New York in June 28, 1969, and met with stiff resistance from its patrons. It was considered one of the first such instances of resistance by queer groups towards authoritarian repression.

“We received a letter from the community members seeking permission to decorate a boat to mark the occasion and we allowed it,” said an SWTD official.

The event was organised under the joint aegis of Santhwanam, a community-based organisation, Proud Ally, a combine of queer groups, and the Junior Chamber International, an international NGO. Later in the day, a march of LGBTQIA+ members was held from near the High Court Junction to the boat jetty.

“We had also set up a rainbow wing for passersby to pose for photographs as a show of solidarity towards the communities. While the society is aware of lesbians, gays, and transpersons, the same cannot be said about the existence and rights of bisexual, intersex and asexual persons. It is imperative to create awareness in society and embolden these communities to come out in the open lest they are forced into relations incompatible to their existence, leaving both the parties engaged in such relations as victims,” said Savitha Shenoy, a social worker.