as a buildup to the muchawaited hyderabad pride march queer swabhimana yatra on february 17 the citys lgbtq community and allies organised a queer carnival 2019 at a cultural centre in banjara hills recently the event focused on sensitising people about the issues faced by the lgbtq community and raising funds for the upcoming pride marchover 250 participants of all orientations participated in the celebrations that saw a slew of cultural performances along with a flea market and an art exhibition by artists belonging to the community the highlight of the carnival was a bharatanatyam performance by neha singh that was followed by another classical dance performance by avijit kundu expressionist dance recital by patruni chidananda sastry and a belly dancing performance by sravan telu garnered huge cheers from the audienceevery year we organise this queer carnival in the week preceding the pride march this year is special for the community because of the scs verdict on the section 377 and we are terming it as our freedom year since this is our first march post decriminalisation of section 377 we are all the more excited said says sandi kushary one of one of the participants and organisers of the eventa host of handcrafted items made by members of the community were put on display at the flea market along with free hiv and aids testing camps in a warm show of support for the communitys cause students from english and foreign languages university also performed a flash mob during the event the funfilled event finally concluded with a sky lantern lighting ceremony in which the community members released a number of lanterns by shouting slogans such as section 377 go away and dont come back