This study explored how gender plays out in public and private institutions and the multiple ways in which interlocking systems of heteronormativity, casteism, class and ableism are enmeshed within patriarchy to create exclusion, marginalisation, pathologisation and violence. It illustrates the multiplicity of ways in which people live gender and testifies that even if there are gender laws, in a just world there can be no gender outlaws. This study has also been a successful experiment in collective research and writing.

In 2013, we published the report titled Breaking The Binary: Understanding concerns and realities of queer persons assigned gender female at birth across a spectrum of lived gender identities. The key findings of the report were shared in public meetings in six cities around the country (ed: including Chennai). We also translated and published the report in Hindi in 2014. In July 2015, Zubaan published a book based on this study titled No Outlaws in the Gender Galaxy, which is now available in bookstores and online.

The English report has been up on our website for free download since its release. We would now like to make both the Hindi and English reports accessible to a wider audience and are extremely grateful to Orinam for putting them up. We can be reached at labiacollective@gmail.com and some of our earlier work is available at www.labiacollective.org

Click here for Breaking The Binary, English

Click here for Breaking The Binary, Hindi

When we thought of how we could take forward the legacy of the ‘first love‘ video last year, we thought of involving our allies. After all, the campus is an ecosystem – and the earliest fear that LGBTQ students may have is whether they will be accepted by people around. Our allies in the video must have gotten rid of their doubts.

Our introduction video this year is called ‘Mere Saathi’ (My Companions) and is directed by Anisha Bajaj, a third year student of Energy Science and Engineering, and IIT-B’s first out lesbian student.  Says Anisha, a photography and video-making enthusiast, “Orientation should not matter in friendship. We have been lucky to have such awesome friends and we hope new entrants see the warmth too. My focus was to ensure this message comes out as clearly as possible”.

The video has three LGBTQ students, with their friends. It was first screened to a packed hall of first year undergraduates on 28th July 2015. The session continued with informal conversation with the students.

The video was picked by Buzzfeed and Storypick, and continues to spread warm vibes about friendship and acceptance.

Saathi is a LGBTQ resource group consisting of LGBTQ individuals and allies associated with IIT Bombay. Set up in 2010, Saathi aims to create a safe space for community members and a more inclusive IIT Bombay campus. Saathi has organized several social events in the past, including movie screenings in coordination with Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival.

At the undergraduate orientation on 25th July 2014, Saathi was introduced to the new entrants of the IIT-B campus. The details of the orientation are as follows:

0) Aditya Joshi and Aditya Shankar worked on a pamphlet that introduced LGBTQ and Saathi in four languages: English, Hindi, Marathi and Telugu. Avinash, Navdeep wrote the Telugu writeup while Prudhvi suggested edits. The languages were dependent on availability of writers in these languages. A print copy of the pamphlet was distributed at the orientation. The pamphlet can be found here.

1) We screened a new video. Check it out. It’s very cool . The idea of making it multilingual worked well with the audience applauding each time a new language came up. The quotes at the end were received very well. Sudipto suggested the concept of “first love” that was used in the video. You see Aniket, Peeyush Sharma, Aditya Shankar, Prudhvi, Ruturaj, Madalsa and Aaditya Joshi (me) in the video. Aditya Shankar did a brilliant job at filming and packaging the video.

2) The video was followed by Aditya Shankar introducing Saathi and conducting a quick quiz with the audience. I was amazed to see that ALL questions were answered correctly! (Some of them were definitely level 2 like “Which cryptography expert was gay?”).

3) We also had a rainbow-decorated stall outside the venue where we distributed freebies, displayed the books in Saathi library and collected registrations. 43 signed up to be on the mailing list! Way beyond our expectations!!

Meanwhile, when the video and the quick quiz ended, a part of the “cast” of the movie assembled on stage. The audience greeted us with a roaring applause – it’s the hardest I have heard anyone clapping, seriously!

Seeing the participation of all us volunteers and the response from the audience, I am positive that this awesome orientation is only the beginning of an awesome year for Saathi.

Note from the Editors: Saathi’s efforts and resource materials for orienting incoming undergraduate students on LGBTQ issues are, to our knowledge, the first of their kind in India. We hope the resources they have shared in this post will benefit wider audiences, and spur similar initiatives on other campuses. Check out Orinam’s list of LGBTQ campus groups in India, and our resources for educational institutions. Also, please let us know of other initiatives of this kind.

Some highlights, as shared by Sampoorna:

* Dalit, bahujan and adivasi trans brothers put forward their struggles against multiple oppressions of caste, class and ableism and asked the question: Who is representing who?

* The Intersex panel, with two intersex women and one intersex, inter gender person, helped unravel the unending diversity amongst us

* Who names us – What we want to name ourselves – Why? One of the most vibrant sessions was, Whats in a Name?

* Similarities and differences of trans*, intersex and intergender experiences in Nepal and Sri Lanka helped build a larger South Asian perspective

* Peer to peer sessions on Gender Affirming Surgeries and Legal Documentation Change processes, were led by transmen

* An interest to have more such meetings, organised for, by and of us, was expressed by many at the meet

Thanks to Gee, Kondaiah, and Satya of the Sampoorna Transmasculine, Intersex and Intergender Meet – Working Group, for making this event happen: we await their detailed report!

For more information, contact the Sampoorna group <sampoornaindia@yahoo.com>

In this short film, Nakshatra uses curtains as a metaphor for the insecurity and fear many young LGBT people remain shrouded in, and suggests that the process of coming out can bring with it relief and freedom from many of these fears. Curtains premiered at Kashish: Mumbai International Queer Film Festival in May 2013.

Nakshatra Bagwe (born on December 11, 1990) is a Mumbai-based filmmaker and actor. His short films are a hit with young gay audiences, whose lives he depicts in his work. His award-winning debut, Logging Out, screened at Kashish 2012, as well as in Chennai, New York, and London. It was also a part of Queer India European tour 2012 to raise awareness about LGBT issues in the Indian context.

Read GaysiFamily’s interview with Nakshatra here.

Nakshatra believes in the power of emotions to help him connect with his viewers, and in the precedence of content over capital-intensive production. Further, in his own words, “I believe we need to reach out to that huge section of people who need to be made aware about homosexuality, and not just those who go to film festivals. My film-making is based on this principle; my films are and will always be easily available to ANYONE on this planet!”

In full support of Nakshatra’s philosophy, we at Orinam are pleased to bring you Curtains below:

A Hindi version of Curtains may be viewed here.

Dear Queerdom

The Gossip Fund raiser party was held last night in Metro Lounge in Oshiwara. Gossip had a QAM fundraiser wherein every entry contributed Rs.100 towards QAM. The party had revved up enough numbers and people seemed comfortable in the disc area and the terrace above. At 11.45pm Vivek and I were about to leave the party when Sibi mentioned that there was an issue downstairs.

As we walked towards the exit we had venue staff telling us that we could not leave since there were police outside. A guy with a ponytail, beard, kohl-eyed and wearing a vest was standing there instructing the police to go and check on the party. He said his name was Haji Ahmed Sahab Bawa (HASB) and he claimed to be a member of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). He also was showing videos that he had clicked inside the party. He was threatening the venue staff that he would raise complaints against them and that seemed to have freaked them. There was confusion for some time as to whether we could leave or not. Some of us stood at the gate asking the cops what was the exact reason that they were there for. The cops mentioned that they were checking on the venue’s permissions and seeing if everything was in order . Although the cops were not being very aggressive, HASB was giving directions to the cops as to what they should do . He kept talking incessantly on the phone shouting “Media Ko Bulao”.

Sibi tried to speak to the cops and HASB by mentioning that we are doing nothing illegal and that section 377 reading down clearly states so. HASB mentioned that his party has ordered a stay in the Supreme Court against reading down of section 377 (factually incorrect). He kept threatening the police and the venue staff.

Vivek and I tried to understand from the police , what exactly was the issue and we were not getting any clear answers. We asked the police that we would like to address the issue at the police station and understand what is the reason that the party is being stopped. They mentioned that they were from Oshiwara Police Station. We ensured that all party goers be safely allowed to leave the venue and police co-operated. As we walked out there was a huge crowd that had collected on the street outside. HASB came out and I yelled out to him that we want to see him in the police station and understand his issues. He did not hear me out and ran towards the car as I ran behind him yelling at him to come to Oshiwara Police station. He was accompanied by a guy who held me and pushed me away, I asked him if he was police , since he was in plainclothes. I told him that he has no proof that he is the police. He pushed me away again, I told him that he has no business touching me. This guy also dashed along with HASB to the car and said that they were going to the police station. I told him that I do not believe that he is going to the police station and what if he gets away. I went close to his car and started taking pics of HASB. By this time a crowd of 10-15 had collected from the party and had surrounded HASB’s car and refused to let him drive away. We took more pictures. We finally let him drive away when we were assured by the uniformed police that the guy with him in the car was a policeman.

We went to the Oshiwara police station and saw HASB’s car waiting outside. A huge crowd from the party of 30 people collected outside Oshiwara Police station. Vivek, Praful, Sibi and me were allowed inside to talk to the police station. It was a long wait , HASB sat with the police inspector Shirsat of Oshiwara Police Station and gave his complaint in written. While HASB was with the police , the policeman in plainsclothes got into an argument with us. He said that he will make an official complaint that he was attacked by the partygoers. We calmed him down and explained that we were all homosexual men and we see nothing wrong with that. We have a Pride March on the 28th which has valid police permissions and we are only fundraising for it. Post that he calmed down and said that he was on duty and we are free to present our point of view to the police inspector.Post That the police discussed the issue with the Venue manager and asked him to kill the issue. The manager was extremely worried about his venue being in trouble and did not wish to make a big issue about this. He kept on asking us to back out. We refused saying that it was not about the venue but an issue about our identities being attacked and due care would be taken that the venue does not face any problems. We insisted that we speak to the inspector Shirsath. Sibi, Vivek and I presented ourselves to Shirsat’s table and we discussed the issue. Shirsat mentioned that he had no problems against the party and there is no illegality with being gay. He quoted HASB and mentioned that he has asked HASB to produce documentary evidence that says that gay parties are illegal. Shirsath mentioned that ideally when a  party is being organized there needs to be an intimation to the local police station about the party , they did not have it and hence they were obliged to act on a complaint by HASB. On the whole Shisrath was very cordial and apologized if on behalf of his police team there was any inconvenience caused to anyone.

Shirsath mentioned that there would be a meeting in Oshiwara Police station on Saturday along with HASB and someone either Vivek or me maybe called to present our point of view. HASB has filed an NC of damage to his car.

We left asking Shirsath how we can file a complaint against HASB , he mentioned that he would give us his details and we could do the needful.

Outide the crowds were yet on the street till 2.30 am . We went out and apprised them of our conversations with the Police. Mid Day and Time Now. Reporters were outside for the story and the crowd of 30 faced cameras to say that we are fundraising here and we are not scared anymore, we will fight this harassment and ensure that QAM 2012 is a success!

Back in Vivek’s house and I could not sleep until I wrote this out!