There is a vibe of “ coming out “ all around us. News is filled with the coming out stories; some of which are very happy while in some the person has to face a lot of backlash from the family, friends and society. The world is still learning for full acceptance for the LGBTQIA+ folks. India with her diversity and secularity has people of all sorts of beliefs and thought systems. Some are very accepting towards the LGBTQIA+ community but there are some who are still in the clutches of hatred for the community; which keeps Indian LGBTQIA+ members at alert. Indians are mostly driven by religion and spirituality. So, to make the whole of India accepting and welcoming for the LGBTQIA+ , efforts need to be made at both scientific as well as religious places. We can expect a more friendly environment for the community in the coming few years with the increasing pace of dialogues, events, members of the community taking stand for themselves, NGO’s , laws, social media, opening up of queer friendly places and let’s not forget about the pride parades.
If you are a queer in India, you would know that it is not easy to find queer friendly places all across India, leave alone an entire queer space. There are some cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Kolkata where you can find a number of offline places for queers when you google for it. But all the queers of India don’t live in just these cities. So, in this blog I will try to give you as many references for queer places as I can so that you know where to look for information the next time you want to visit someplace or meet someone offline as well as online.
Gaysi Events: Gaysi family is a media platform that is aimed at providing safe spaces for queer people and is helping the world understand what queerness is. You can find about the events organised by them on their instagram account .
GayGaze Events: thegaygazebombay is a LGBTQIA+ community building platform which organises some really cool parties and events.
Naaz Potluck : Well who doesn’t know about the Naz Foundation ? Their potlucks are a centre for attraction to many and a nice occasion to meet other LGBTQIA+ folks and make some new bonds. If you are someone who is not comfortable sharing meals in the first meeting then you can find about their other events from their instagram profile.
Humsafar Trust: If you are someone who is fond of sports, games and fairs, then you should surely follow them.
The Qknit : If you are an enthusiast who wants to work for equality and education of the LGBTQIA+ folks, then this platform is a good start And what can be more better than finding friends while you are working for something greater.
GayBombay: Are you a movie fan? Then what are you waiting for? Just follow them and know when they are screening the next time and maybe you will get a gay story of your own while watching the movie !!!
FirstContact.Lgbt : I have been saving this for the last because I know some of us are very lazy to go out and find other LGBTQIA+ folks. We need assurance before we leave the comfort of our homes. FirstContact.LGBT is a virtual platform: A Metaverse for the LGBTQ community across India where people can look for a friend, professional connection, partner without any hesitation and discrimination. The platform aims to bring Queer folks together while also raising awareness on different issues of the LGBTQ community. The website itself carries a liberal approach towards such topics as it accepts users of all sexual orientations, gender identities and sexual preferences. The website also gives one the opportunity to keep their identity hidden from other users. It protects their privacy and allows them to search for their desired partner without hindrance or embarrassment.
You must be thinking that I only talked about seven platforms and even in those, most of them are based in metropolitan cities; so how can you find queer places in the non-metropolitan cities ? Well my dear friends, it is not possible for me to write about every place in just one article since it is not a book 😉. And therefore, I am going to write different articles for different cities so that no article becomes boring or contains too much information that it becomes hard to remember. Stay tuned and let me know, in the comment section, what queer friendly places you know in your area and around India. Let’s makes queers visible in all places!!!!
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