As I mentioned in my previous post on the day of Gaj Jatra festival one more event takes place in Kathmandu - Gay parade. "Kathmandu Pride is the premier pride parade and festival for LGBT residents in Nepal. It was first launched by the Blue Diamond Society, an LGBT rights organization, in 2001, but most participants wore masks to prevent being identified by suspected homophobic people; in addition, the parade was purposefully scheduled to coincide with the Gai Jatra festival.
It gradually discarded masks over the years, and officially went "international" for participation by tourists and foreign ambassadors in 2010." Wikipedia
This year's marked the fourth annual Pride parade, it’s only since the fall of the monarchy in 2008 and the election of a constituent assembly that gay rights activists have had a voice in the country.
It was the first time I ever watched a Gay parade. Have to say that it was fun: music, dancing, jokes. Some were dressed in ordinary outfits, some wore traditional costumes and others - extravagant dresses. One time someone poured water on the demonstrators from the window but it didn't spoil the merry mood, everybody just laughed.
Hope in my photos I managed to catch the atmosphere of the event.
Wonderful pictures Olga! I really can imagine that it was pure fun. What a variety of costums, creative looks, colors and beauties.
ReplyDeleteSabine xxx
It's so sad to hear someone pouring water on them
ReplyDeleteIt's their life.
Anyway, you did a great job in capturing the atmosphere.
Thumbs up!
Xoxo
I love all of the colorful costumes and ethnic dress. In every country I have seen Pride parades, I always love them. Thank you for sharing your photographs!
ReplyDeleteWonderful post about wonderful people. Thank you for sharing this with us. We all need to open our hearts and minds to accept everyone we share this awesome world with. Gorgeous photos. I will someday attend a pride parade. It looks like a wild time. ;)
ReplyDeleteBarbara @ www.allmylivesnow.com
quite unusual outfits :) thank you for sharing. We happen to witness a similar event in LA a couple of months ago. But, I didn't see such a variety of costumes :).
ReplyDeletereally great pictures! we have a rainbow parade here in vienna which i really liked to go but these looks amazing! the costumes are so great!
ReplyDeletekiss,mary
http://www.maryloucinnamon.com
Thank you for telling us about this parade and the Gai Jatra. Your photos do capture the exuberance, and it's fun to see the outfits of the participants.
ReplyDelete