Agartala, August 09, 2025: The streets of Agartala were filled with vibrant colors, placards, and voices for equality on Saturday as the Tripura Queer Pride Walk 2025 was held for the third consecutive year. Members of the LGBTQ community along with allies marched from Umakanta Academy School weaving through various streets of the city, spreading messages of inclusion and dignity.

The event, first held in September 2022, is organized by the local activist group Swabhiman. The primary aim of the Pride Walk is to dismantle prejudice, challenge discrimination, and promote respect for all, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.

Speaking to media personnel here in Agartala city, one participant made an emotional appeal “We are all human beings. We all have the right to live as human beings. I should be accepted the way I am — not by any compulsion or force. We also want to live the way everyone lives. The constitution of the country has given us that right.”

He stressed that the right to gender identity belongs solely to the individual. “The constitution has given us that right. However, why should we be deprived of it? Many people in Tripura do not want to come out in public. They are forced to hide themselves due to family and social pressure. But this injustice should not be accepted,” he added.

Organizers said the walk was not just a celebration of identity, but also a protest against the silence and invisibility forced upon many members of the queer community in the state. As one marcher put it, the Pride Walk is a reminder that “love and equality should never be negotiable.”