LUCKNOW: Eighteen years after the queer community took to streets to celebrate their individuality for the first time in Kolkata, Lucknow would organise its first ‘Pride Walk ’ on Sunday, April 9, to call for equal rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and asexual (LGBTIA) community.The walk is being organised by city-based LGBTIA activist group Awadh Pride Team and Humsafar Trust , one of India’s oldest organisations working for the rights of sexual minorities. The Pride Walk will see participation from not just locals looking to ‘come out of the closet’ but also LGBTIA members from cities like Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai. The walk will commence from Sikanderbagh at 3pm and reach GPO crossing by 5pm.Having already covered a number of city colleges to spread awareness, Humsafar Trust’s Tinesh Chopade said, “Beginning next week, we will reach out to schools to spread awareness about the community. Our basic motive is to get the Supreme Court’s 2014 order implemented. The order calls for 13% reservation to the community among other rights.” Chopade also said the organisation’s media manual, ‘Sanrachna’, which covers various aspects of the community along with terms to use and avoid in publication, could be downloaded on Humsafar Trust’s website.The Awadh Pride Team also organised the city’s first Awadh Queer Film Festival at Rai Umanath Bali Auditorium on Sunday. It showcased movies and documentaries like ‘Icon Beyond Labels’ and ‘Love versus Law’, which highlighted the various aspects of India’s LGBTIA community.“The conservative society has a very narrow view about our community, which makes life difficult for people like us,” said Yadavendra, the organiser of the film festival.Speaking during a discussion at the film festival, social activist Sadaf Jafar said, “The solution lies in education and from there on we can get together as a civil society to demand basic education for children from the community.”Speaking for the transgender community, activist and politician Payal Singh said, “Our presence in society dates back to centuries and has also been mentioned in the story of the birth of Lord Krishna when transgenders went to his house to for ‘badhai’.”