Over a hundred students marched through DU’s North Campus on 6 September 2025, demanding safety and equality for the queer community within the university.
On 6 September 2025, the 4th Delhi University Campus Pride Parade took place in North Campus, commemorating the historic 2018 Supreme Court verdict that read down Section 377 of the IPC.
Since its inception in 2022, the student-led Pride Parade has grown into a collective assertion of queer identity, rights, and political presence. The event was organised by seventeen organisations and queer collectives in association with the Students Federation of India ( SFI) and Delhi University queer collective ( DUQC). The Back Gate of the Arts Faculty at the University Enclave witnessed a turnout of more than a hundred students and protestors despite rains during the first few hours of the parade.
The parade started and culminated at the Arts Faculty, followed by an open mic session. The SFI candidate for the upcoming DUSU elections, Abhinandana Das, was present at the session. “We were expecting a much larger turnout, but we faced last-minute bureaucratic issues,” said the candidate. “Permission was taken for the main gate, but we were asked to shift to the back gate at the last minute” continued Simran, organiser and founder of DUQC. The parade gave voice to anti-homophobia, anti-transphobia, pro- Palestine and “Jai Bhim” sloganeering.
The organisers highlighted a recent issue of the alleged attack on Nitara, a transwoman in Motilal Nehru College. An assertion was made to unite the queer community of Delhi University towards creating a safer and freer space for themselves.
The parade witnessed participation from queer collectives from across DU. “DU’s queer activism has been soaring over the years, and I hope to see the same momentum in every educational institution through our collective efforts. It is extremely necessary for queer people, especially, to be aware of their rights and to fight for them,” said Shifa, Vice President of Vikirya, Gender Champions of Dyal Singh College, one of the collaborating organisations.
The first DU Campus Pride Parade in June 2022 was initiated by SFI with the slogan “March for Love, Freedom, and Social Justice.” Around 800 students marched that year, amidst backlash from the university administration and right-wing groups.
As Mehina Fatima, convenor of the Queer Students’ Subcommittee of SFI and a founding member of DUQC, recalled,
It is from these parades that I have realised how strong in numbers the queer student community of DU is. We are all fragmented here and there because of the distance between our campuses but we are not a negligible force
She commented on the political nature of the parade, saying“ pride is political… pride is not just a celebration but an unapologetic assertion of the queer identity and experience… We have refused to depoliticise the campus pride parade despite pressures… With every passing year we see that the resistance towards politics in pride is decreasing and this year, already we are hearing students talk about how pride is political, and we are very excited to see how it will materialise in the parade.”
The campus Pride March listed out their ‘charter of demands’ as follows:
- Establish gender neutral washrooms in all educational institutions
- Enact horizontal reservation for general students in all educational institutions
- Establishment of proper mental health cells in all universities in colleges with certified mental health professionals
- Establish reserved hostels for query and transgender students in all educational institutions
- Mandate the existence and administrative support of collectives and all educational institutions
- Conduct service in all educational institutions for the formal record of the number of transgender students and enrolling in higher education
- Conduct mandatory gender sensitization workshops for students teaching and non teaching staff in educational institutions every year with emphasis on lgbtqia + identity and experience”
“The charter holds great significance; it was first accepted at the General Body Meeting of all queer students in Delhi, organised by SFI. It was put forward in the 2024 elections as the Queer Students Manifesto. This year, we have included eleven demands,” said Simran, founder of DUQC.
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Image Credit: Shaafi Mahin for DU Beat
Anjali Kumari Jha
Anjali Paruvu
