The Chennai Rainbow Pride March has been held by members of Tamil Nadu LGBTIQA+ communities every June since 2009. The pride march is organised under the banner Tamil Nadu Rainbow Coalition (earlier under the banner Chennai Rainbow Coalition until 2013), which is a collective of LGBT individuals, supporters, and organizations working on human rights and healthcare for the LGBTQIA community. The Pride March occurs on the final Sunday of June every year. The Pride March is usually preceded by a month-long series of events organized by NGOs and organizations to inculcate awareness and support for the LGBTQ community, such as panel discussions, film screenings, and cultural performances. The Chennai Vaanavil Suyamariyadhai Perani a.k.a. Chennai Rainbow Self-Respect March is known for being inter-sectional in nature as it addresses issues with multiple axes such as caste, class, religion coupled with gender discrimination.

The march took place at Marina Beach from 2009 to 2011, and Elliot's Beach, Besant Nagar in 2012. Since 2013, the venue has been Egmore, beginning at Rajarathinam Stadium. The Chennai Pride is the only Indian pride march whose pride march coincides with the global Pride Month, which is celebrated annually in June.

Chennai held its very first queer pride march on 28 June 2009. The March happened at the Marina Beach; from the Triumph of Labour Statue to the Mahatma Gandhi Statue. The slogan of the march was taken from the words of the Tamil poet Bharatiyar: "Hues may vary, but humanity does not." (Tamil: வண்ணங்கள் வேற்றுமைப்பட்டால், அதில் மானுடர் வேற்றுமையில்லை). The march demanded that parents of LGBT youth and healthcare facilitators stop inhumane practices like "conversion therapy". It also demanded that HIV testing follow national government protocols of pre-test counseling, post-test counseling, and respecting the confidentiality of client.

The police were reluctant to grant permission for the Pride March. Permission was finally granted when the police were told that the parade was being held to thank Ms Kanimozhi, a DMK politician, for helping start the Transgender Welfare Board in the state (a Board that became inactive when the AIADMK party came to power).

Around 200 people from the LGBT community along with their family and friends formed the core group for the march. There were prominent figures from the community such as Kalki Subramaniam, a trans woman who runs the Sahodari Foundation and the TV anchor Rose Venkatesan, also a trans woman. Many others joined in at various points during the evening, with posters and slogans denouncing Section 377 of the IPC.

The preceding week also saw a lot of several events in the run-up to the Pride March. There were cultural performances, panel discussions on the colonial construction of the Section 377 law, a film screening of the Oscar-winning film Milk, and also a support group for parents and siblings of LGBTQ individuals.

The 2010 Pride March was held on 27 June 2010. It was preceded by a month-long series of events, including a debate on homosexuality and family values; an LGBT performance festival; a poetry reading event; a meeting of parents of LGBT people; art, slogan, placard and beauty contests; and film screenings. The 2010 Pride march celebrated the landmark judgment by the Delhi High Court that read down Section 377 (which was unfortunately reversed by the Supreme Court in 2013). It also called for an end to bigotry and violence against the LGBTQ community and lamented the loss of Prof. Shrinivas Ramachandra Siras. It demanded that hijras and other transgender communities in India be recorded in the 2011 national census in the category corresponding to their gender of choice, and not limited by the currently available binary choices of 'male' and 'female'. It also called for affordable and appropriate healthcare, the stop of unscientific as well as sensitive and inclusive media reportage.

The march began at the Triumph of Labour statue at the Marina Beach and ended at the Lighthouse, and saw about 300 participants.