There’s something undeniably magical about the way the LGBTQIA+ community shows up during Pride Month. The colours get louder. The silhouettes get bolder. And above all, the joy feels unfiltered, like a kaleidoscope turned up to full brightness.
But behind the sequins, sheer fabrics, rhinestones, and riot of colour lies something far deeper than just fashion. Dressing up, for many queer individuals, isn’t a luxury or mere aesthetics. It’s therapy. It’s their identity. It’s a protest. And it’s joy.
“Darling, dressing up isn’t just something I do — it’s the purest form of joy I know,” says The Cologne Doll, a queer drag performer who brings desi drama and disco dreams to the stage. “It’s my therapy, my rebellion, and my love letter to every queer kid who ever felt ‘too much.’ When I get into drag, I’m not hiding — I’m arriving.”
This month, their looks are all about “fantasy-meets-freedom”, vivid jewel tones, oversized silhouettes, rhinestones that dare the sunlight, and style that merges softness with strength, street fashion with couture, and queerness with unapologetic brownness.
“Every outfit is a protest. Every lash is a poem. Every walk is a celebration. Drag gives me the power to take up space unapologetically to turn a sidewalk into a runway and a brunch into a movement,” they add. “Pride isn’t just a day or a month. It’s stitched into every sequin I wear.”
Safe spaces, styled selves
For many in the community, Pride events become the only spaces where they can dress the way they truly want, without fearing ridicule, judgment or worse.
“Yes, we love dressing up,” shares Navv, a 29-year-old professional from Delhi. “But we can really do this only during Pride events, because outside of them, straight people are always there to troll us.”
The sentiment is echoed across metros and small towns alike. Safety, not style, becomes the first priority when choosing daily outfits. Pride, in that sense, offers not just visibility but sanctuary. A space to finally exhale. A chance to dance without shrinking. “We’re enjoying Pride Month as a safe place, where we can be with our community, without any fear,” Navv says.
Fashion as Fluid as Identity
Shantanu Dhope, a 29-year-old digital content creator from Mumbai, doesn’t wait for a parade to wear what he loves, though Pride does give him a special reason to dial it up.
“Honestly, my outfit depends on how I am feeling that day,” he says. “Baggy pants, easy shirts, a lot of accessories, and always matching my makeup to the outfit, that’s my usual vibe.”
For Shantanu, fashion is fun, freeing, and deeply personal. “This month, I’m wearing whatever brings me joy. Lots of colour, lots of texture. Pride is a great excuse to be extra. I’m still learning my personal style, and the more I try, the more I understand what makes me feel confident.”
Confidence matters
For inclusive fashion brand Pinq Polka, Pride is not a trend; it’s a reminder of the freedom that should exist year-round.
“At Pinq Polka, we’ve always believed that fashion should never come with rules, especially when it comes to feeling confident in your skin. Our community reminds us every day that joy has no gender, and expression has no boundaries,” says co-founder Manveen S Sharma.
“We see people dressing for the mirror and not the world, dressing for their mood, their truth, and their power. That’s the kind of pride we stand for. It’s in the freedom to move, to experiment, to take up space. It’s in people of all genders finding joy in a plunging neckline or a fitted silhouette, and knowing they don’t have to explain it to anyone. This Pride Month and every month, we honour the bold, the fluid, the quiet rebels, and the loud dreamers. Because when you’re truly free in your body, the world opens up. And that’s a kind of joy worth dressing up for,” Manveen adds.
While big-box brands often roll out rainbow merchandise in June, the queer fashion movement runs much deeper than seasonal campaigns. Labels like The Pot Plant, Outcast by Anshita, and Gush Beauty offer year-round commitment to identity-affirming design, from fluid silhouettes to gender-inclusive makeup and statement jewellery made by queer artists.
These brands cater to joy as resistance, not just aesthetics. Their work reflects a slow but growing shift in India’s fashion culture — one that centres individual choice, body freedom, and storytelling through style.
And for many queer folks, it’s about joy in the face of hostility. A rhinestone in the dark. A stiletto on a street that wasn’t built for you.
“Queer joy is the glitter that holds it all together,” The Cologne Doll reminds us.
Because in a world that often makes LGBTQIA+ people shrink, dressing up becomes a radical act of expansion. Each outfit, each accessory, each swipe of bold lipstick, they all say the same thing: We are here. We are beautiful. And we will not be erased.
This Pride Month, amid the parties, the parades, and the product drops, it's worth remembering who Pride is really for: the dreamers who dress loud and love louder.
