Up to 500 people marched against anti-trans violence over the weekend at the third Hyderabad Pride.

The Hyderabad Queer Swabhimana Pride on Sunday (8 February) was the first large-scale public LGBTI event to be organized in India’s fourth largest city after the formation of the new state of Telangana.

The revelers created a festive atmosphere with their singing and dancing but they also conveyed a serious message.

The marchers called for justice for the recent spate of anti-trans violence in the city and the establishment of a national statutory transgender commission and commissions in each state.

‘Through the march, we draw attention to our collective struggle to survive in a society that shuns difference, stifles free expression and violently rejects the existence of sexualities and genders that differ from the norm,’ organizers said in a statement.

‘Over the past one year, violence against our diverse communities has manifested itself repeatedly across the country. The city of Hyderabad alone has witnessed 40 attacks on hijra/transgender people in the last six months.’

At the end of the march in Indira Park, tribute was paid to Pravalika, a transgender sex worker who was brutally lynched by unknown assailants last month in Hyderabad. The following week, a Hijra woman was called in for questioning by police but was sexually assaulted instead.

On a national level, organizers called for the implementation of a April 2014 Supreme Court ruling that recognized transgender citizens as a third gender and granted them the rights to equality, legal protection, freedom from discrimination and the freedom of gender expression.

They also demanded that the government repeal Section 377 of the Indian penal code, which criminalizes consensual gay sex between adults and was reinstated in December 2013.