A no-go would have sent a mixed message. On the one hand, the nation has struck down the law, but on the other India’s supposedly most cosmopolitan, liberal city is putting the brakes on a march. While the pride march had a huge novelty value when it started off in 2008, some of which has worn off over the years, it is vital that the march remain part of the city’s calendar.

For all the supposed progress, it will still take time to blur the so-called lines between gay and mainstream. Gays now must not be confined to different spaces or a world different from the rest. What better way to illustrate that than by seeing the community and supporters walk on the street to make a rainbow-coloured statement? Some time ago, a book of stories by the gay community was launched at a mainstream bookstore in South Mumbai.

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The space was significant and proved that demarcations between what spaces gay and the mainstream inhabit are gradually disappearing. This is an important part of becoming part of the larger society. Cohesiveness, acceptance and awareness is not only in the mind but in physical spaces too.u00a0