LGBTQ culture in Hyderabad

Last updated

Hyderabad is a conservative city when it comes to LGBT rights, compared to other Indian Metros. But since it slowly started becoming the second IT-capital after Bangalore, there has been a continuous influx of people of all cultures from across India. In the past few years, there has been some increase in LGBT activism in Hyderabad, including pride marches of 2013 and 2014. [1] [2] [3] [4] Slowly, Top MNCs have been introducing LGBT friendly policies in their Hyderabad offices. [5]

Contents

Organizations

There has been a few organizations/informal support groups setup in recent times, doing good work in LGBT rights in Hyderabad. A Couple of them are listed below.

Queer Nilayam

Queer Nilayam (నిలయం) is a Support Group for the LGBTQIA+ and Queer community in Hyderabad, India. It was established by a few queer folks to provide support to the community. This is an open space and participants are encouraged to provide more direction for queer folks to socialize and create a sense of belonging.

The Firefly Community

Started in the year 2018, [7] The Firefly Community is a Hyderabad based NGO which works on issues related to "Gender & Inclusion". [8] The Community works on raising awareness by creating safe spaces and includes the medium of art to discuss issues which are a taboo in the society. [9] The Co-Founders include Alifiya Khan, Lawyer, Ayesha Syeda, Medical Student at VRK Medical College, Neeti Sudarsi, Medical Student at Apollo Medical College and Aaliya Syeda, Architecture Student at GITAM University. [10] The Community aims at raising awareness through the medium of art and worked extensively on topics such as LGBTQ, Mental Health, Indian Sign Language, Sexual Abuse, Menstrual Health etc. [11]

Mobbera Foundation

Mobbera Foundation is a registered unfunded organisation which is led by Sandipan Kushary and Anil which works for human rights, exclusively for LGBTQIA+community through Arts and cultural programs. [12] [13] [14] [15]

Dragvanti

Dragvanti [16] is a non profit organization from Hyderabad which is a safe space for all the drag practitioners within the city. Hyderabad drag club has started the drag scene in Hyderabad and been organizing drag events in the city and awareness sessions through drag on AIDS, safe sex, [17] queer story telling and open mikes. [18] [19] [20]

Homophobia/Transphobia in Hyderabad

There have been numerous instances of incidents of homophobia and transphobia in Hyderabad.

Back in 2011, a local news channel TV9 (Telugu) carried out a sting operation on gay dating websites and gay clubs, presented a very demeaning and homophobic view of Gay culture of Hyderabad. Following this news report, there have been many protests in Hyderabad and across India. News Broadcasting Authority of India issued notices to TV9 channel, following which it aired an unconditional apology which can be said as the first win of city's LGBT community. [21] [22] [23]

In early 2013, a Kashmiri student in the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, allegedly committed suicide because of homophobia of university authorities, students and faculty. [24]

In 2015, Few queer and trans persons were restricted from entering the GVK One mall. Included in the group was trans activist Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli, who filed a complaint about the discrimination and asked GVK to apologize for the discrimination. [25]

Hyderabad's LGBTIQ History

Related Research Articles

Homosexuality in India is socially permitted by most of the traditional native philosophies of the nation, 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.

The bisexual community, also known as the bi+, m-spec, bisexual/pansexual, or bi/pan/fluid community, includes members of the LGBT community who identify as bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, polysexual and sexually fluid. As opposed to hetero- or homosexual people, people in the bisexual community experience attraction to more than one gender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture in India</span>

India has a long and ancient tradition of culture associated with the LGBTQ community, with many aspects that differ markedly from modern liberal western culture.

Queer Azaadi Mumbai Pride March, also called Queer Azaadi March and Mumbai pride march, is an annual LGBTQIA pride parade that is held in the city of Mumbai, capital of Maharashtra, India. It usually begins from Gowalia Tank ending at Girgaum Chowpatty. It, along with the Pride Week, is organized by Queer Azaadi Mumbai, a collective of organizations and individuals working for the rights of LGBTQIA community. The participants of the march include people from the LGBTQIH community as well their "straight allies", from India and outside. In addition to being a celebration of queer pride, the pride march and related events are a platform to ask for equal rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delhi Queer Pride Parade</span> Annual LGBT event in Delhi

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Good As You</span>

Good As You is a support and social group for LGBTQ people and others questioning their gender and sexuality in Bangalore. It started in 1994 and is one of the longest surviving groups that advocates equal rights for homosexuals and other gender and sexual minorities in Bangalore.

The city of Shanghai, China, a global center for finance, technology, manufacturing, and transportation, has a presence of LGBT people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queer Pride Guwahati</span> LGBT event in India

Queer Pride Guwahati was organised for the first time by the members and supporters of the local LGBT community in Guwahati, Assam on 9 February 2014. The Queer Pride Guwahati was the first LGBT Pride in the entire North Eastern India. The Pride is now an annual event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orinam</span>

Orinam is a non-funded, social, and activist collective that works to enhance understanding of alternate sexualities and gender identities among families, communities and society. It was founded in 2003 in Chennai under the name MovenPick and is one of the oldest collective of its kind in India. People affiliated with Orinam are from or trace their ancestry to the following geo-cultural: People of Tamil Origin from Tamil Nadu, India. Orinam provides a platform for creative expression, personal and social commentary by Queer people of Tamil Origin and of Indian Origin primarily. Orinam also acts as a local support group in Chennai for the queer community. Orinam also partners with the city-, state- and national initiatives around decriminalisation of homosexuality by amending Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and LGBTQ rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chennai Rainbow Pride</span> LGBTIQA+ Pride March

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, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Kerala</span>

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.

Seattle has a notably large LGBTQ community, and the city of Seattle has protected gay and lesbian workers since the passage of the Fair Employment Practice Ordinance in 1973. Seattle's LGBT culture has been celebrated at Seattle Pride which began in 1977 as Gay Pride Week. Gay cabaret traveled in a circuit including Seattle and San Francisco since the 1930s. Seattle had gay-friendly clubs and bars since the 1930s including The Casino in Underground Seattle at Pioneer Square which allowed same-sex dancing since 1930, and upstairs from it, The Double Header, in continuous operation since 1933 or 1934 until 2015, was thought to be the oldest gay bar in the United States.

Hyderabad Queer Pride has been celebrated on one of the Sundays in February since 2013. First held on 3 February 2013, Hyderabad became the 12th Indian city to join the queer pride march bandwagon, fourteen years after the first Indian pride march was held in Kolkata. In 2015 it was renamed as Hyderabad Queer Swabhimana Pride, emphasising the self-respect and the acceptance of the community of themselves, as they are. In 2016 it was altered to Hyderabad Queer Swabhimana Yatra and has been retained since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengaluru Namma Pride March</span> Annual queer pride march in Karnataka, India

Bengaluru Namma Pride March is a queer pride march that is held annually in the city of Bengaluru in Karnataka, India, since 2008. The march is organised by a coalition called Coalition for Sex Workers and Sexuality Minority Rights (CSMR). The pride march is preceded by a month of queer related events and activities.

Chennai International Queer Film Festival is a three-day LGBT- event that usually takes places on the last weekend of July as a part of the city's pride events. The main organizers are SAATHII and Orinam in partnership with Goethe-Institut, Chennai. The other volunteers include various community groups and NGOs, including Nirangal, East-West Center for Counselling, and RIOV. The last day is usually performances along with a panel discussion, usually to discuss and bring out the challenges faced by community members.

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:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patruni Sastry</span> Dancer, Performance Artist, Drag queen

Patruni Sastry, popularly known as Patruni Chidananda Sastry or Suffocated art Specimen is a Expressionist dancer, performance artist, visual artist, model and drag queen.

Dragvanti is a web portal dedicated to drag performers based in India.

References

  1. ↑ Ramavat, Mona (February 11, 2013). "Gay pride and a colour riot: Hyderabad gets its own first queer parade". India Today. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "LGBT community gears up for February pride parade - The Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  3. ↑ "Out in the open, they long for acceptance". The Hindu. 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  4. ↑ "Hyderabad Queer Pride 2013". Gaylaxy Magazine. July 24, 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "MNCs in Hyderabad becomes LGBT-friendly". Deccan Chronicle. 2013-10-17. Archived from the original on January 19, 2014. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  6. ↑ "WAJOOD". Wajoodlgbt.blogspot.in. 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  7. ↑ "Firefly Community- Speaking the unspoken".
  8. ↑ "Firefly Community raising awareness on sensitive social issues". 6 January 2021.
  9. ↑ "#YouGoGirl: This girl-powered club in Hyderabad is starting conversations on Islamophobia, Discrimination and more". May 2019.
  10. ↑ "Creating a safe space to talk mental health". 19 December 2019.
  11. ↑ Nadadhur, Srivathsan (16 June 2018). "The Firefly community : A platform for a conversation". The Hindu.
  12. ↑ Murthy, Neeraja (8 April 2020). "Pride Art Showcase by Hyderabad-based Mobbera Foundation goes online". The Hindu.
  13. ↑ Pendyala, Sweta. "City's LGBT community celebrates SC verdict with free hugs - Times of India". The Times of India .
  14. ↑ "At the root of activism". telanganatoday.com. Archived from the original on 2020-12-13.
  15. ↑ "They need our empathy, not sympathy: HR on making workplace more inclusive for LGBTQ+ community". 8 September 2020.
  16. ↑ "It's TIME for 'Drag' shows to begin". telanganatoday.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-04.
  17. ↑ https://telanganatoday.com/lets-talk-about-sex [ dead link ]
  18. ↑ "Poems, music, standup and more at queer open mic at Cafe Rasasvada". 23 December 2020.
  19. ↑ "Drag Show Sizzles Hyderabad". 18 June 2019.
  20. ↑ "South Asian drag stars demand visibility with Brown Drag Exists campaign". 5 May 2020.
  21. ↑ "TV9's Homophobic Coverage - Gaysi". Gaysifamily.com. 2011-02-23. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  22. ↑ Vaishalli Chandra (2011-04-03). "TV9 ordered to air apology for sting | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". Dnaindia.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  23. ↑ "TV9 fined, ordered to broadcast apology on 3 days for 'gay exposé' | Gay News Asia". Fridae.asia. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  24. ↑ "Mourning Mudassir's suicide: The tragic tale of a Kashmiri student". Sify . Archived from the original on July 3, 2014. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  25. ↑ "Transwoman to File a PIL against GVK One". The New Indian Express. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  26. ↑ "WAJOOD". Wajoodlgbt.blogspot.in. 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  27. ↑ "Hyderabad Queer Carnival ends on gay note". Deccan Chronicle. 2014-01-19. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  28. ↑ "Everything you need to know about Hyderabad Drag Con 2019". 24 October 2019. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  29. ↑ Bhavani, Divya Kala (25 October 2019). "Hyderabad to have its first-ever Drag Con". The Hindu.
  30. ↑ "The year Hyderabad notched up several notable firsts - Times of India". The Times of India .
  31. ↑ "Hyderabad to have its first-ever Drag Con – Business News". 31 October 2023. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  32. ↑ "Hyderabad's First Ever DragCon has Us Squealing! - FIFTY SHADES OF GAY". fiftyshadesofgay.co.in. Archived from the original on 2019-11-06.
  33. ↑ "Home". queernilayam.org.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.