After a delayed start and a last-minute change to the meeting area, about 300 people gathered for a two-kilometre walk through the heart of the city.

"This is a great day for India," said Ravi, who waved a rainbow flag madly through the procession. "This is not just for us, this is for everyone in the country."

The parade was co-ordinated with similar marches in Kolkata and Bangalore to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York that sparked the gay rights movement in the US in 1969.

But while tens of thousands of people turned out on Sunday to celebrate San Francisco's 38th Gay Pride march, and the legalisation of same-sex marriage in California, in India discrimination against gays and lesbians remains common.

Many of those marching in New Delhi wore masks that were provided, or made their own, for fear of reprisal from their community as well as their family.

One marcher, Vaskar, said: "I wear a mask because my family does not know I am gay. I am an only child and it is my duty to the family for me to have children. I hope that one day no one will have to wear masks."

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code prohibits "carnal intercourse against the order of nature". The law, introduced in the 1850s during British colonial rule, has a penalty of up to 10 years' jail for homosexual acts. It is under review in the High Court.

"It's been a long journey, full of struggle, to get here," said Gautam Bhan, a gay rights activist and co-organiser of the parade.

"Everyone who chooses to walk in the parade will take a deep breath the night before and actually think about what they're doing because, all said and done, it's a scary place to be and it never gets easier," he told the Times of India .

Although the New Delhi parade lacked the risque glamour of its festive counterparts in San Francisco and Sydney, the mood of pride was evident in the dusty, busy streets.