| 1st Rainbow Awards | |
|---|---|
| Date | December 10, 2023 |
| Venue | Rainbow Lit Fest, Gulmohar Park, New Delhi |
| Country | India |
| Presented by | Dwijen Dinanath Arts Foundation |
| Website | therainbowawards |
The 1st Rainbow Awards ceremony was held at Rainbow Lit Fest, Gulmohar Park, New Delhi on 10 December 2023. It celebrated writers from 1 January 2022 and journalists from 1 June 2022, both until 31 May 2023. [1]
The nine-member jury composed of following members evaluated the submissions and decide on the award winners. Rohin Bhatt, queer rights activist, lawyer and bioethicist, served as a co-coordinator. [1] [2]
Hoshang Merchant, a Hyderabad-based poet and professor best known for his anthology Yaraana, was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award. [1] [3]
Fiction of the Year
| Non-fiction of the Year
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Feature of the Year | Op-Ed of the Year
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Shakuntala Devi was an Indian mental calculator and writer, popularly known as the "Human Computer". Her talent earned her a place in the 1982 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records. However, the certificate for the record was given posthumously on 30 July 2020, despite Devi achieving her world record on 18 June 1980 at Imperial College, London. Devi was a precocious child and she demonstrated her arithmetic abilities at the University of Mysore without any formal education.
Hoshang Dinshaw Merchant is an Indian poet. He is a preeminent voice of gay liberation in India and modern India’s first openly gay poet. Merchant is best known for his anthology on gay writing titled Yaarana.
Homosexuality in India is legally permitted and tolerated by the most of the traditional native philosophies of the naton, and legal rights continue to be advanced in mainstream politics and regional politics. Homosexual cohabitation is also legally permitted and comes with some legal protections and rights.
Sanjay Suri is an Indian actor and film producer of Hindi cinema. He made his debut in the film Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi (1999). He went on to star in many supporting roles, but finally got his big break with Jhankaar Beats in 2003, when he got recognised by the audience as a seasoned actor. He is also the co-producer and actor in the film I Am. He is also the co-founder of the film production company Anticlock Films.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in India have been reformed significantly during the 21st century. Indian LGBT citizens still face social and legal difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT people.
The rainbow flag or pride flag is a symbol of LGBT pride and LGBT social movements. The colors reflect the diversity of the LGBT community and the spectrum of human sexuality and gender. Using a rainbow flag as a symbol of LGBT pride began in San Francisco, California, but eventually became common at LGBT rights events worldwide.
The KASHISH Pride Film Festival is an annual LGBTQ event that has been held in Mumbai, India, since 2010. The film festival screens gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer films from India and around the world. It is voted as one of the top five LGBT film festivals in the world.
LGBTQ people have a long recorded and documented history since Ancient India. Hinduism and the various religions derived from it were not homophobic and evidence suggests that homosexuality thrived in ancient India until the medieval period.
India's LGBTQ culture has recently progressed in its cities due to the growing acceptance of the LGBTQ community in urban India in the 21st century.
Humsafar Trust is an NGO in Mumbai that promotes LGBT rights. Founded by Ashok Row Kavi, Suhail Abbasi, and Sridhar Rangayan in 1994, it is one of the largest and most active of such organisations in India. It provides counselling, advocacy and healthcare to LGBT communities and has helped reduce violence, discrimination and stigma against them. Humsafar Trust is the convenor member of Integrated Network for Sexual Minorities (INFOSEM).
Delhi Queer Pride Parade is organised by members of the Delhi Queer Pride Committee every last Sunday of November since 2008. The queer pride parade is a yearly festival to honour and celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and their supporters. The parade usually runs from Barakhamba Road to Tolstoy Marg to Jantar Mantar.
This is a timeline of notable events in the history of non-heterosexual conforming people of South Asian ancestry, who may identify as LGBTIQGNC, men who have sex with men, or related culturally-specific identities such as Hijra, Aravani, Thirunangaigal, Khwajasara, Kothi, Thirunambigal, Jogappa, Jogatha, or Shiva Shakti. The recorded history traces back at least two millennia.
Chennai has LGBTQIA cultures that are diverse concerning- socio-economic class, gender, and degree of visibility and politicisation. They have historically existed in the margins and surfaced primarily in contexts such as transgender activism and HIV prevention initiatives for men having sex with men (MSM) and trans women (TG).
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Kerala face legal and social difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT persons. However, Kerala has been at the forefront of LGBT issues in India after Tamil Nadu. It became one of the first states in India to establish a welfare policy for the transgender community and in 2016, proposed implementing free gender affirmation surgery through government hospitals. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 2018, following the Supreme Court ruling in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India. In addition, numerous LGBT-related events have been held across Kerala, including in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. However, there is also increasing opposition to LGBT rights recently as evidenced by the anti-LGBT campaigns spearheaded by meninist groups and Muslim organisations like Indian Union Muslim League, Samastha and Jamaat-e-Islami.
Sappho for Equality is an organization based in Kolkata, India, working for the rights of lesbians, bisexual women, and trans men in Eastern India.
The following list is a partially completed compilation of events considered to have a profound effect on the welfare or image of Tamil sexual minorities. The use of bold typeface indicates that the event is widely considered to be landmark:
Gay Bombay is an LGBT social organization in Mumbai, India, which promotes LGBT rights. It was founded in 1998. The organization works to create an awareness of gay rights through workshops, film screenings, and parties. The organisation aims to create a safe space for the LGBT community.
Aditya Tiwari is an Indian poet and LGBT rights activist.
Saurabh Kirpal is an Indian lawyer, author and a senior advocate at the Delhi High Court. He is also an LGBTQ rights activist.
The Rainbow Awards are awards presented by Dwijen Dinanath Arts Foundation of India to recognize exemplary affirmative work about the lives of sexual and gender minorities in India.
