Mumbai:
A rocking party scene, nightclubs, support groups and a magazine--Gays in Mumbai have a host of choices vis-a-vis other cities.
A comparison across four cities -- Pune, Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai - reveals that Mumbai is fast emerging as India's gay capital.
A year after Section 377 was decriminalised, there were more than 20 gay parties organised in Mumbai in the last two months. While Delhi hosted 15, 10 were held in Bangalore and none in Pune.
While Mumbai has nearly half a dozen active gay support groups, that is not the case in Delhi, Bangalore and Pune.
While the city has a magazine for gays -- Bombay Dost, Pune has two -- PUCK and The Queer Chronicle.
"Being a cosmopolitan city, we are more accepting than any other city. The number of parties, conferences, film festivals is more than in other cities," said Nitin Karani of Bombay Dost Trust.
Bangalore is fast catching up too. "The number of parties in Bangalore has risen from one a month to 10," said Abhishek Aggarwal, event manager of Pink Nation, a Bangalore-based gay group. "In recent times though, we have had difficulty finding a venue."
Abhishek said hotels are not open to letting out their space to hold gay parties. "Until recently, I was convinced Bangalore was gay-friendly. But now, I feel otherwise."
Girish Kumar of Humsafar Trust stresses on why Mumbai, not Delhi, is the gay capital. "Mumbai has a more open outlook than Delhi. Bangalore is progressive, but has not yet reached the mark. So Mumbai is the undisputed champion," says Kumar.
However, Vikram Doctor, founder of Gay Bombay, a support group for gays, feels Mumbai ranks next to Chennai in terms of facilities towards the community. "Tamil Nadu has policies for the gay community and has even offered houses and free medical supervision," he said.