It may be the 73rd year of Independence Day for India, but for the LGBTQ community in India, it's the "first real Independence Day".
The Humsafar Trust, founded in 1994, released a video to mark the special occasion.
On September 6th, 2018 the Supreme Court repealed Section 377, finally decriminalising homosexuality and in turn giving freedom to millions. "We are all united by love - for our country and our people," wrote Humsafar Trust.
Filmmaker Apurva Asrani, who also features in the video, tweeted it with these words.
Never thought I'd live to see the day when such a beautiful & dignified #NationalAnthem releases. It features many LGBTQ Indians who were wrongly deemed as criminals till a year ago. Thankyou @HumsafarTrust for holding us all together🌈💗. #standwithpridehttps://t.co/mvknjpmnu9 — Apurva (@Apurvasrani) August 14, 2019
The video features activists, filmmakers, writers, and entreprenuers. It ends with the words #StandWithPride, in tri-colour hues. "I was to stand shoulder to shoulder with change-makers who had lived their lives openly, with dignity and with courage," Apurva said in an interview. Meanwhile, netizens are already showing love for the heart-warming video.
This is beautiful !! ❤️🇮🇳 — Tehseen Poonawalla (@tehseenp) August 14, 2019
@sridharrangayan @IamOnir.. This is heartwarming and yes let's #StandWithPride... To each his/her own with everything in life... Jai Hind 🇮🇳 and Happy Independence Day to all!! — HIRAMEHTA💃 (@HIRAMEHTA3) August 14, 2019
It's beautiful! Congratulations :) — Nived Nambiar ❤️ (@Nived_Nambiar91) August 14, 2019
I want to ❤️this a million times!!! Jai he!! — savita sriram (@queenbee1605) August 14, 2019
So powerful and moving. Love is love ❤️🌈 💙 — Amarjit Sapam (@Amiable_Amar12) August 14, 2019