Roadies, Across the Spiderverse, the Nupi Manbi community and more
It's the tenth edition of Queering About! 🎉🎊🥳
We’re back! Bet you didn’t think we wouldn’t be! To be honest for a while so did we! Are we 4 days late? Yes! Is the concept of time a human construct? Also yes! Are weekdays a capitalist invention to divide time into hours of production for wage-related purposes and therefore ultimately meaningless? Also also yes! So sit back, relax and enjoy this extra-extra-extra long TENTH edition of Queering About! 🥳
And now, the news
Starting with the silver screen: famous MTV show Roadies now has a trans woman contestant. Model Neerja Punia is from Haryana and is the first transgender contestant on the show, which is in its 19th season.
Meanwhile a Odia film called ‘T’ was showcased at the India pavilion of the Cannes film festival last month. It’s based on the life of Mehghna Sahoo, a cab driver, who is also a transgender lady.
In the US, an Indian American group has urged PM Modi to support equal rights for queers. Aruna Rao, executive director of Desi Rainbow (a space for allies and queer South Asian in the US), was among Indian-Americans who were invited to participate in the Pride Rally at the White House.
In Andhra Pradesh, police have arrested 4 men under the Transgender People (Protection of Rights Act) for harassing a Dalit trans woman in Visakhapatnam. It’s reportedly the first time people have been booked under this act in the state.
Do you want to happy-cry? We do, so here is a heartwarming story about an auto worker and a trans lady’s marriage in Telangana’s Warangal.
Over to Malappuram in Kerala, where the family of a lesbian woman has reportedly abducted her. Afeefa C S eloped with her partner Sumayya Sherin after being in a relationship for two years. Sumayya has approached the Kerala High Court to free her partner.
Meanwhile the Kerala High Court has upheld an order to accept a trans woman’s application for a Public Service post reserved for women candidates. The applicant said that the legal third gender option was making her ineligible for the post.
In Trichy, community organisers have set up a flour mill called the Sundara Vinayagar Flour Mill. It aims to provide employment for trans people and provide a community of support.
Over in Karnataka, Shashi C of Mysuru became one of the first trans advocates from the state. She plans to become a judge.
Meanwhile in Chennai, a traffic cop tried to pray away the evil (i.e. road accidents) by asking a trans person to bless it. He was removed from duty for a time (thankfully). Ironically, he failed to remove the smashed pumpkins from the road.
On to Goa: a Hindu nationalist group has claimed that cyclones like Biarjoy are caused by the social approval for live-in and gay relationships. There has been no official pushback from any source on the statement. 🙃
In Maharashtra, the state government has told the Bombay High Court that it’s difficult to increase reservations for trans candidates in public employment and education. It says this will breach the 50% cap on reservations set by the Supreme Court.
Also in Maharashtra: in a bizarre case, a 25-year-old man allegedly posed as a woman and ‘worked’ as a doctor at a Nagpur hospital for almost three weeks before he was caught. He told police that he is gay and pretended to be a man to approach men.
Meanwhile the municipal councils of both Delhi and Pune have started constructing public toilets for transgender people in the city, FINALLY.
This comes as Delhi still lacks a trans welfare board, despite 12 states in the country already having it. Additionally, the Garima Greh in the city that seeks to provide support and a livelihood for the marginalised is seeing a lack of previously promised funding.
In Kolkata, Sappho for Equality held a session on the violence trans people face from their own families.
Shahzadi Rai and Chandni Shah in Pakistan have become the first trans members of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) City Council. This comes amid the Federal Shariat Court striking down the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018.
Also in Pakistan, the Sindh High Court has ordered medical treatment for HIV-positive trans persons. It’s after a petition was filed against Civil Hospital Karachi for denying treatment to them.
The United Arab Emirates has decided to ban Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse from releasing in the country due to a scene featuring a flag with the writing "protect trans kids." The cinema chain has also removed the film from the "coming soon" pages of its websites in Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.
In Daegu, South Korea, the city’s conservative conservative mayor along with the police tried to restrict the pride march that has taken place since 2009, claiming it would "instil the wrong sexual culture in teenagers.”
Over in Poland, a country that famously has “queer free” municipalities, a pride march kicked off in Warsaw last Saturday, ahead of the country holding elections later this year.
In Britian, the Archbishop of Canterbury called for the Anglican Church of Uganda to reject the country's anti-LGBT laws that states that “aggravated homosexuality” is punishable by death, highlighting that it went against the Gospel.
USA has also decided to impose visa restrictions on Ugandan officials due to the anit-LGBTQ+ laws. This comes during a wave of anti-trans legislation being passed in the States.
In Montana, USA, a man has been jailed for 18 years after being found guilty of a hate crime against the queer community. In March 2020 John Russell Howald threatened a woman and fired shots at her house, claiming that he was on a self-proclaimed "mission" to rid the town of its LGBTQ community.
The USA vs Mexico game in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal at Las Vegas ended abruptly after homophobic chants broke out towards the end of the game. The League put out a statement condemning the occurrence.
Some reports now: Tinder has released its latest report and it says that the number of people self-reporting on the app as queer has increased exponentially, especially among Gen Z. The number of people choosing ‘non-binary’ as an identity has jumped by 104%! And…
…The Pew Research Center’s Spring 2023 Global Attitudes Survey showed that 53% of Indians surveyed support same-sex marriage. We think the survey would have benefitted from looking at marriage equality overall, though.
Booking.com, the travel site, says that nearly 80% of LGBTQ+ travellers surveyed (of around 12,000 people from 27 countries) said they worry about their safety and wellbeing as queer person when picking a destination – up from 64% last year. It’s part of their ‘extensive LGBTQ+ travel research.’
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s (GLAAD) survey on big social media platforms - Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter - showed that albeit improving from the previous year, they all do poorly at protecting LGBTQ+ users from hate speech and harassment, with Twitter faring the worst. Twitter CEO Elon Musk has said the word ‘cisgender’ is banned from the platform.
According to a poll by Gallup, just 41% of Republicans in the US said that gay or lesbian relations are morally acceptable, a 15% drop from 2022 and the largest single-year change in the past two decades.
Johns Hopkins University removed an online glossary of queer terms after its definition of the word "lesbian" used the term "non-men" to refer to women and nonbinary people led to criticism from anti-trans activists. Ugh.
At the historic Stonewall Inn in New York, pride flags are being repeatedly vandalised, with the place seeing “four acts of vandalism in just over a week.”
At a sporting event in Canada’s British Columbia, a man demanded that a 9-year-old child’s sex be checked because he suspected her of being a trans girl. He has been banned from school sports across the district, but we suspect the damage is done. This is what uneducated, uninformed and rabid transphobia looks like. This is what it can lead to. Incidentally, the child’s parents are both women.
In East London, the late Alexander McQueen, the fashion legend, would be getting a commemorative ‘blue plaque’ at his childhood home in Newham.
The National Health Service of England said it would be limiting the use of puberty-suppressing drugs on children enrolled in clinical trials, and “should not be routinely commissioned for children and adolescents.” This comes at a time where nations worldwide are flagging either a lack of research or substantial improvements on mental health in those under 18 that undergo puberty treatments. However, it should be noted that hardly any long-term studies are conducted (or perhaps even allowed for) in the first place.
Finally (phew!), in the world of pro-wrestling, two-time WWE winner and actor CM Punk brought on a fan holding a sign that read “Support LGBTQ+ Youth,” and had a heartfelt message about supporting queer kids and the marginalised.
What We’re Into 📣🎧 🎥🎵📚📖 📷
📣 The home state of one of your writers is serving this month: Bengal is holding a transgender fashion show in Burdwan in July. It’s called ‘Aalpin’ and it’s being organised by the Angel Nabajiban Welfare Society.
📣 The low-down on some queer events you may have missed: a Pride run, a Pride March and a Pride Art showcase event in Bengaluru; the Queer Made Weekend festival in Mumbai; and the 15th Chennai Rainbow Self Respect Pride March.
📚 Elliot Page’s autobiography is out! Unfortunately it’s still hella expensive in India (an Indian edition doesn’t seem to be out yet?) but you bet it’s on our TBR pile.
📚Need more books about the Indian queer experience? Here are four, and then some more for children (we LOVE this article), and then at least one more, also for children. Speaking of…
🎙️… We love us some audiobooks - so here’s a very queer and very South Asian list to enjoy.
📷 Please look at these illustrations teaching people to say queer terms in Indian Sign Language. What a lovely idea ;_;
📷A gorgeous history of queer art through time. (Here’s an India-specific piece as well.)
📷 Some queer joy for you in these pictures of beautiful people at the pride parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Did you know the parade at Sao Paulo broke its own Guinness record in 2009 with 4 million attendees, up from 2.5 million, and up to 5 million attending in 2017?
📷 British Vogue’s latest Pride Issue is out - we love the cover shoots and the editor’s note is well worth a read.
🎥 Starting our video recs with one of trans photojournalist Zoya Thomas Lobo speaks about learning photography while navigating public spaces as a transwoman.
🎥Did you spot this fantastic Google Doodle in memory of Willi Ninja, a Black queer dancer who pioneered the art of voguing?
🎥 Some much-needed laughs - Insta-famous queer comedian Matteo Lane’s fabulous new comedy special has dropped. Closer home, we love this video interview of comedian Prarthana of ShortHairBrownQueer fame. Her IG bio says ‘making the gay content I want to see’ - which is literally the reason we started this newsletter.
🎥 Know some parents of queer children in need of advice? Send this video to them and pray that it helps.
🎥 Usual Netflix recs: ‘The Ultimatum: Queer Love’ this time.
🎥 New film recs are for Ek Jagah Apni and Lailaa Manju, both of which were screened at the recent Kaashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival. Also, here are some more queer short films for you to enjoy.
🎥/📖 Back to Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse: if you’ve watched the (visually stunning) movie, did you pick up on the suggestions that Gwen might be trans?
📖 We think we are bad people because we laughed at this article about The Flash’s Ezra Miller. If there is a hell, we have reserved seats.
📖 How can trans people in India get gender-affirming housing? This Quint piece takes a look. And this article in The Wire looks at how trans people in India navigate healthcare.
📖 Want to get married (unofficially, of course)? We have semi-good news. A new Bloomberg feature (alt link here) suggests that India’s wedding industry may finally be warming up to queer folks, not because of ideals but because it’s becoming more profitable (duh).
📖 Some pieces on queer accessibility. How are Indian workplaces faring in terms of queer rights? Do our public places support queer people? Are we doing enough to address mental health amongst the LGBTQ community? Why is there such a lack of data on the LGBTQIA+ community in India?
📖 Get the tissues out: here’s a moving personal essay about coming out as bisexual, another on navigating being asexual, and finally, on how community support can very likely save lives.
📖 How do Western ideas of queerness lead to othering those from South Asia? And do we end up Othering some of our own as well - such as the Nupi Manbi community in Manipur?
📖 A cause for concern: we've seen some Muslim people joining hands with some conservatives in the US for anti-queer protests. The former say that queer Muslims don’t have a space within the religion. Some Muslim people have also endorsed alleged rapist and human trafficker Andrew Tate's 'embracing' of Islam, citing his anti-queer ideology.
📖 On that note, check out the efforts of SALGA - the group helping queer South Asian New Yorkers to find their tribe.
📖 A bit about queer leaders! Sanjana Tiwari, a former sex worker and now an auto driver, holds street plays to alleviate stigma around HIV/AIDS; Swetha Sudhakar’s Born2Win NGO helps to place transgender people in job; and drag queen Rani KoHEnu and DEI expert Aparna Mittal chat inclusivity with Forbes.
📖 An insightful report about whether mainstream political party outfits on Delhi campuses are embracing queerness because of ideals or pinkwashing.
📖 We assume most of you can already answer this question - but should you need more weapons in your arsenal to shoot back at people asking it, here’s why representation matters.
📖 We’re slightly disturbed that The Guardian, of all places, is suddenly starting to make sense in their coverage of trans people. It started with this Op-Ed and continued in this article about Miss Major, who was a trans activist present at the Stonewall Riots, and this one about the abhorrent attack on the 9-year-old girl.
📖 A series of articles from Hindustan Times: on a film festival, and on Bollywood directors and actors speaking about presenting LGBTQIA+ characters on screen; meanwhile, here’s Onir speaking about how homophobic the industry still is. We’re also enjoying HT’s disclaimer right at the top, which we feel precludes nasty comments about why there is special queer coverage - what do you think?
💸 Finally (phew, again!)- want to support more queer creatives? Here are some Indian queer makeup brands, fashion houses and other queer businesses for you to enjoy.
Rest in Power
This is in memory of those who lost their lives to hate, and also dedicated to those whose passing go unreported by the media.
We mourn for Sarit Ahmad, an 18-year-old queer woman who died following multiple gunshots to her upper body at the hands of her brothers near the northern Israeli-occupied town of Yarka.
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.
Need a mentor in the workplace? Try Qonnect, a career development peer network. They hold mentorship programmes and fireside chats to help you find out how to be a functioning queer human at work.
Donate to the community
Mitr TRUST is an organisation catering to LGBTQIA+ people in New Delhi. Donate to their various programmes here.
Queer Quote of the Day
“Love him and let him love you. Do you think anything else under heaven really matters?”
— the character Jacques in James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room
Thank you for reading, and see you for our next letter!
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