On the evening of Friday, March 2, 2018, Coimbatore saw the public screening of ‘Ladies and Gentlewomen’, a Tamil documentary film. Directed by Malini Jeevarathnam and  produced by Pa. Ranjith’s Neelam Productions, ‘Ladies and Gentlewomen’ is the first effort in the history of Tamil cinema to break the silence around the dynamics and body politics of lesbian relationships, which are often socially stigmatised. Also screened were ‘En Aasai En Kanavu’ and ‘Won’t the Real Transformers please stand up?’, two short films on the lives of transmen and transwomen.

These screenings were organised by Queerbatore, a collective formed in 2015 by a few individuals who were part of the Orinam mailing list and network. Queerbatore is now an active WhatsApp group and offline space for people belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community who either live in Coimbatore or have a personal/professional association with the city.

The event commenced with a song rendered by Shyam, a volunteer of Queerbatore.

The song was followed by the screening of Malini’s film.

Post-screening, Vivek Kumaran gave an informative presentation on gender and sexuality to make the audience aware of LGBTQIA+ terminologies. Vivek also urged the audience to  be sensitive, respectful and accepting of persons with diverse identities and to address them by their preferred choice of pronouns.

This was followed by the panel discussion featuring Kalki Subramaniam, Selvam, Vinodhan,  Malini Jeevarathnam, Saurabh Masurkar, and Srijith Sundaram.

Representing the transwomen, transmen, intersex, lesbian, gay and ally communities, these panelists come from different walks of life. What they have in common is their extensive and passionate work for the welfare of the LGBTQIA+ community through their engagement with art, theatre, film, media, activism, advocacy and life.

The intention of this interaction between the panelists was primarily to make people within and outside the community aware of the diversity of identities that exist under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella. Kalki, Srijith, Malini, Selvam, Saurabh and Vinodhan passionately spoke of the challenges, breakthroughs and experiences in their personal and professional circles. The audience was also encouraged to accept whoever they feel they are and to live without the fear of anyone.

Most of all, this event was an Out and Loud call to people from all sections of the society to stand up and unite against oppression on the basis of sex, gender, caste, race, appearance, personal choices or, for that matter, violation of any human right. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

In the video excerpt below (courtesy Prasanth), Kalki speaks about gender stereotypes within the community, followed by a discussion with Srijith on queer history and intersectional activism.

Thanks to the Queerbatore volunteers who shared the images above.

Malini, who hails from Paramakudi, in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu, says she opted  to make the Lesbian Anthem a standalone music video to reach out to a wider audience than the documentary. She would like to emphasize, through the video, that lesbian love exists in India across class and rural-urban divides, and is not the domain of westernized upper class women, as is sometimes mistakenly regarded.

Sung by Anitha Karthikeyan and Kaavya Ajith, the song has been composed by  music director Justin Prabhakaran, with lyrics penned by renowned poet-activist-lyricist Kutti Revathi. It has been produced by Pa. Ranjith. The music features an aesthetic blend of genres, from Indian classical to folk.

This is an anthem you will want to stand up for.

Watch the music video here or go to https://www.doopaadoo.com/ta/lesbian-anthem/video

Lyrics are below: translation is available through English sub-titles.

நீ தானாய்
துணிந்து வராயோடி
நான் காணா புதையல் தாராயோடி

பேரழகியே அழைத்தாயே
காதலினால்
பிழைத்தேனே

நிலைக்கண்ணாடி போல எனை முழுதாக காட்டி
அதை அழகாக்கிடும் உயிர் நீ தான்

ஏன் தயங்கி நின்றாய் உயிர் காதலியாய் வாராய்
ஒரு தேவதையைப் போல நீ தான் அன்பே

செல்லம்மாவே பொண்ணுமால செஞ்சாயே
சுயவரோம் என்னத்தேடி நீயும் வந்தாயே
ஒத்தமாலை நெஞ்சுமேல போட்டாயே
உயிர் பத்தியெரியுதே பாதகத்தி உன்னால

இது தொடராத உறவுன்னு ஊர் சொல்லிப்போகும்
உனத்தொடர்ந்தேதான் வருவேனே
கடல்தாண்டி வாடி என் உடல் தீண்டிப்போடி

செல்லம்மாவே செல்லம்மாவே செல்லம்மாவே
பொன்னுமால செஞ்சாயே சுயவரோம்
என்னத்தேடி நீயும் வந்தாயே

நீ தானாய் …
நான் தானாய் ….
துணிந்து வராயோடி
துணிந்து வாரேனடி

நான் காணா ….
புதையல் தாராயோடி ….