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We’re two queer journalists curating and writing about all things LGBTQIA+, from India and beyond.
First, bring out the champagne (or any non-alcoholic alternative you might want to go for). We’ve reached a 100+ subscribers! Thank you for being here with us, for reading and for sharing.
This newsletter brings us so much joy to curate. It feels like accomplishing something, like making a difference, but I’m still not sure if that’s an illusion. We’re a tiny team of two, balancing full-time jobs and other family commitments to get this done, every week. Both of us have really, really struggled with our mental health over the past couple of weeks as well.
So if you have something nice to say to us, or even just to chat, do write in on our Twitter page or email (both linked at the bottom of the letter; bouquets and brickbats welcome). We love to hear from readers and your support means the world in these uncertain times.
On to the rest of this week’s stories…
And now, the news.
Let’s get to the big stuff that made headlines this week in India and around the world:
Glee actress Naya Rivera’s completely unexpected death has left people reeling - including us. We got the update while we were still writing this letter, and changing the story from ‘disappearance’ to ‘death’ was heartbreaking. Santana (played by Rivera) and Brittany (played by Heather Morris), along with Kurt and Blaine, were the first LGBTQIA+ characters that either of us remembers seeing on screen in India. What a tragedy.
The Tamil Nadu government has granted an age relaxation for transpeople applying for posts in the state's police subordinate service. This comes after a Supreme Court ruling that the community should be given the relaxation that marginalised people such as OBCs also get, due to the huge discrimination, prejudice and violence they face on a daily basis.
The Director-General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Border Security Force has said that transpeople should be allowed to join security forces as a part of ‘respectful’ employment opportunities. We’re going to pause for a moment and note the language. We’re not sure if ANI translated this tweet, but saying ‘transgenders’ doesn't bode well in terms of humanising trans people. This is without considering the military-industrial complex. Baby steps, eh?
A five-member committee to overhaul criminal laws in India is facing resistance from inside the legal community because of its composition and functioning. The article mentions a letter (that you can read here) by a group of “women litigating lawyers,” that highlights issues of lack of representation of OBCs, Dalits, and the LGBT community on the committee, to name a few.
The TikTok ban has hit the LGBTQIA+ community in India. TikTok was banned here after the Indo-China border clashes, and lots of people were upset about that as many underrepresented communities, including queer people from working-class backgrounds, had found a voice on it (video link).
GREAT news from Thailand: the country has approved a draft ruling that would legalise same-sex civil partnerships, one of the first in South-East Asia! It also allows same-sex couples to jointly own property, adopt children, and pass on inheritances. Activists have highlighted that terming this ‘civil partnership’ is still copping out of giving them the same standing as that of a ‘marriage.’ We get what they mean, although we think that marriage is a patriarchal institution anyway.
ALSO great news from Brazil: a man, who wishes to be referred to as the ‘São Paulo Patient’ for the sake of anonymity, is said to be the FIRST PERSON EVER in history to have been ‘cured’ of HIV by medication alone! More tests and research need to be done - but what a development! We need to add that we do not condone the stigma of having a positive diagnosis for HIV, and that current treatment options make it possible for it to be ‘undetectable’ and thus make it impossible for the individual to pass on the disease.
Having said that, here’s some advice from two aunties in their mid-twenties - don’t forget to have a conversation with your partners about their status, for this and other STDs! Informed consent is essential.
Okay, back to regularly scheduled programming.
Valentina Sampaio has made it to Sports Illustrated as their first transgender swimsuit model! She also just last year became Victoria's Secret's first openly transgender model in August. Watch this interview of hers linked below, or read this heartfelt personal essay of her in the same magazine. We’d love to see more trans people of all shapes, sizes and from diverse backgrounds to be highlighted in the media.
Mexico City lawyers have voted to ban conversion therapy! It’s a part of the small but gaining movement to end the practice. Their proposal dictates that “anyone who forces someone to undergo the practice can be punished for up to five years in prison.” Meanwhile in the UK, a movement to ban it is gaining momentum, and it’s very much a problem here in India, too.
On that note, Instagram and Facebook have banned the promotion of ads that promote conversion therapy as a part of their shared hate speech policies. This comes after conversion therapy has been banned after in up to 19 US states, yet it remains legal at the federal level and in many places around the world.
On the subject of hate speech, the r/GenderCritical subreddit has been taken down as a way to moderate hate speech more severely. It was earlier described by its moderators as “reddit’s most active feminist community,” but had grown to be quite TERF-y.
Remember Poland's incumbent President Andrzej Duda, who ran with a viciously anti-LGBTQ+ platform for his reelection? He just beat the challenger Rafal Trzaskowski in Sunday's presidential vote by a very narrow margin, winning 51.2% of the votes. Tough times ahead for Poland’s LGBTQIA+ community, we imagine.
On the bright side, the Netherlands says that it shall stop issuing any gender marker on identification cards, making the process of obtaining IDs much easier for enby and trans people! This change does not apply to passports though and is loosely set to be implemented in 2024 or 2025.
Halle Berry just showed all you allies how to do your job! She stepped down from a proposed role of a transman after people pointed out that the job should go to, well, a transman. We stan a queen who grows and learns.
And finally, in some Insta-happy news, Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, a Philadelphia State Representative from the 181st district, and Dr. Matthew Jordan Miller are now engaged! Peep their cute story below ❤️
What We’re Into
The events we’re attending, the books and articles we’re reading, the films and shows we’re watching and the music we’re listening to.
🎥 Disclosure, a Netflix documentary about trans people as they are depicted in Hollywood. Also, you can go to Vogue US’s IG to watch their 24 Hours with Laverne Cox video in which she talks about it.
🎥 The Old Guard, a movie based on a comic book with - spoiler alert! - what one of us describes as a ‘full-frontal’ gay couple. Now bring in more gay/ lesbian / trans/ enby / genderqueer couples on screen, you cowards.
🎥 This amazing video about LGBTQIA+ identities in South American Indigenous cultures, narrated by a queer Indigenous person from Brazil.
🎧 Jodie Comer reading Vita Sackville-West’s letters to Virginia Woolf has us literally weeping.
🎧 Our friend Shivani Dave’s British LGBTQIA+ history podcast which won an award this weekend! Go listen to The Log Books, by Shivani, Tash Walker and Adam Smith.
🎧 This is not strictly queer but it IS Hozier reading poetry for half an hour (!!!) and we WOULD die for him (!!!!!!!) plus we all know he’s the lesbian king.
♫ The music video of Bar Talk by Raghav Meattle features queer relationships AND one of our favourite drag performers, Sushant Divgikr.
📖 Buzzfeed Culture was doing a series about sex, and some of the essays were eye-opening, some were heartwarming and some were so sexy that we’re sweating thinking about it.
📖 This great essay about queer representation on Indian screens.
📖 This article by Supreme Court advocate Saurabh Kirpal on laws about discrimination against queer people in India.
📖 This heart-rending article about Chanda, a transwoman who took her own life during lockdown, and others like her.
Rest in Power
This is in memory of those who lost their lives to hate, and also dedicated to those whose passing goes unreported by the media.
Kiruba Munusamy, a researcher and advocate with the Supreme Court Of India, has shared the news of two trans women who took their own lives after being deceived by their lovers.
Alok V Menon, non-binary performer and poet, has shared the news of six black trans women who have died in a week across the US. We spoke about Bree Black, Draya McCarty and Shaki Peters last week. Brayla Stone, Merci Mack and Tatiana Hall have also been taken.
Mental Health Resources:
Sahaya Help Line: 080-223 0959
Operates: Only on Tuesdays and Fridays, 7 pm - 9 pm
Sappho Helpline: +91-9831518320
Operates: 10 am – 9 pm
Space: (toll-free tele-counselling helpline) 1800111015
Operates: 10 am - 6 pm every day.
A list of other places to call if you need help, clarity, or just someone to talk to.
A non-exhaustive list of queer+ve therapists in India bought out by Gaysi Family.
Amrutam is an Ayurvedic wellness community that also has a list of LGBTQIA+ therapists.
Donate to the community
Queer Campus Bangalore has shared the donation link for Swabhava Trust, a Bangalore-based queer organisation, on Milaap.
The Feminist Collective, in conjunction with the Ashoka University Queer Collective, has shared a link for a Trans Solidarity Fund.
Our friend Sanika has shared a donation link to help Bangalore-based transman Pavan access his gender affirmation surgery.
Queer Quote of the Week:
“My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you.”
Audre Lorde, “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” as she would put it.
Thank you for reading, and see you for our next letter!
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