Tag: QUEER

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Mumbai Queer Pride March 2024 Set for February 3rd

The Mumbai Queer Pride March 2024 is scheduled to take place on February 3, organised by Mumbai Queer Pride (MQP), a collective of Queer (LGBTQIA+) individuals and organisations. The march will begin at 3 PM, next to August Kranti Maidan, the historic site of the Quit India movement.

The Mumbai Queer Pride March is:

•             A celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community’s diversity and resilience

•             A call for action on the issues and challenges we face

•             A demand for rights like marriage equality and adoption for queer persons

•             A demand for strong anti-discrimination and anti-violence laws

•             A demand to set up functional Welfare Boards and Councils for protecting & furthering the rights of Transgender persons

•             A demand to end stigma & discrimination against people living with HIV and provide them with access to health care, education, employment, housing, etc. 

•             A call to immediately end discrimination, abuse and violence of all sorts.

The march will feature volunteers, activists, artists, thinkers, movie makers, actors, and allies from various other social movements, as well as parents, teachers, students, and corporate goers supporting the above causes and beyond. The march is preceded by a month-long calendar of events, including workshops for advocacy and education, panel discussions, film screenings, book readings, performances and many more.

The MQP welcomes the participation and solidarity of intersectional movements in the march. The organisers highlight that the upcoming Pride March is for LGBTQIA+ Pride and the Causes that intersect with it, and the attendees’ posters and messages need to reflect that.

ALSO READ-Rainbow Lit Fest Celebrates Queer Inclusivity in New Delhi

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Rainbow Lit Fest Celebrates Queer Inclusivity in New Delhi

The winners of the first-ever Rainbow Awards for Literature and Journalism will be announced and felicitated on Day 2. The Fest will also see queer-run enterprises at work through stalls and pop-ups. In addition, there would be a bookstore run by the ‘queer-friendly’ Kunzum…reports Asian Lite News

The Rainbow Lit Fest – Queer and Inclusive is set to take place on 9th and 10th December 2023 at the Gulmohar Park Club, New Delhi. Bringing together diverse voices from across the nation, the Rainbow Lit Fest seeks to discuss queerness, find common ground and stitch more informed narratives about the LGBTQIA+ community.

This year, over 60 speakers, entertainers and performers will participate in the festival. In about 30 sessions covering a wide variety of topics, they will celebrate queerness and love while encouraging inclusivity. The festival will open with a spotlight session with director Jaydeep Sarkar (maker of the new queer docuseries Rainbow Rishta). There will be more such spotlight sessions with Saurabh Kirpal (senior advocate & author), actor Kalki Koechlin, Seema Anand (London-based mythologist; intimacy columnist) and Hoshang Merchant (modern India’s first openly gay poet).

Other prominent speakers include Alankrita Shrivastava (Director & Writer), actor Mona Ambegaonkar, Jaya Sharma (queer feminist activist), Urvashi Butalia (author and activist), Akhil Katyal (poet and queer activist), Poonam Saxena (senior journalist, translator, author), Rituparna Borah (queer feminist, writer, founder – Nazariya – QFRG), Niladri R Chatterjee (author and translator) and Rohin Bhatt (lawyer and activist).

Exploring themes of love and the law, social hierarchies and identities, the relationship between mythology, literature and culture, the overlap between queer rights and feminism, among other things, the conversations will revolve around the Rainbow Lit Fest’s aim to unravel queer history, acknowledge present realities and work towards a hopeful future. Special ‘Spotlights on History’ include revisiting India’s first Stonewall moment with activist Arif Jafar, and another remembering historian and gay rights activist Saleem Kidwai.

Besides history and academia, the Fest delves into the sub-continent’s rich culture of folklore and fluidity to bring together an immersive two-day experience. Five films that cover different aspects of queerness will be screened at the festival, including the award-winning My Mother’s Girlfriend and Muhafiz, among others. Mumbai-based Tamasha Theatre is set to perform Be-loved, an intriguing saga exploring love and freedom through a queer lens, for the first time in Delhi. Performances by queer artists feature musician John Oinam and band, drag performer Lush Monsoon, Geetanjali & Katukaleen rendering Kumaoni folk music, trans performer Avatari Devi, and Gayathri Sharma & Bhadra Sinha in a Bharatnatyam production representing the Ardhanarishvara philosophy.

The winners of the first-ever Rainbow Awards for Literature and Journalism will be announced and felicitated on Day 2. The Fest will also see queer-run enterprises at work through stalls and pop-ups. In addition, there would be a bookstore run by the ‘queer-friendly’ Kunzum. 

The festival is being supported by Delhi Queer Spaces, Naz Foundation, Nazariya – QFRG, Keshav Suri Foundation, Official Humans of Queer, The Pink List, The Q-knit, Queering in Chandigarh, Sweekar – The Rainbow Parents and Yes We Exist. Everything from the fest’s location – Gulmohar Park, which saw the early risings of the gay movement at the residence-cum-office of the Naz Foundation back in 2001 – to its belief system – that literature and art should speak for as many as possible, particularly those who aren’t usually heard – sets the Rainbow Lit Fest – Queer & Inclusiveapart.

Festival Director and Founder, Sharif D Rangnekar said, “After the Supreme Court verdict on marriage equality, there is a greater need for the community to come together and voice their views. Conversations around lived experiences are extremely essential in giving the community a sense of space, identity and belonging, while also informing the audience of queerness and the expanse of love and choice.”

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Community Lite Blogs USA

Colourful Pride events in US cities

Those protests are now commemorated in the city’s annual Pride Week celebration, one of New York’s most beloved festivals and with time, it has evolved way beyond its party-hard reputation of previous decades…writes Siddhi Jain.

Queer groups have gained much more acceptance in society since they started to raise their voice against discrimination. June is marked as the LGBTQ Pride Month, usually celebrated with street festivals, events and parties. Majority of the Pride events in the USA take place in June and July to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising which mostly happen on the same weekends. So, whether you’re a member of the LGBTQ community or an ally, here’s all you need to know about how Pride events are celebrated in five key US cities to experience the colorful affair to the fullest.

San Francisco, California
Long considered as one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the U.S., San Francisco is nicknamed ‘the gay capital of the world’ and is home to one of the largest and most prominent LGBT communities in the country. There are rainbow-clad streets, gay-friendly districts, and some of the most prominent LGBT festivals and celebrations take place here. And if there’s any gay pride event in the U.S. you surely need to attend, it’s the San Francisco Pride. It takes place in June’s latter half and draws over a million people.

While there will be no big Pride parade and celebration event in downtown San Francisco this year, you can still expect a mix of in-person gatherings and online events as people around the Bay Area celebrate Pride. San Francisco’s Pride celebration embodies the freedom of expression, human rights and love; all things that the California city is known for embracing.

New York City, New York
Every June, the streets of New York are transformed into a blitz of rainbow flags, bared skin, and joyous dancing. While at first glance it might look like just a typical New York City Street party, NYC Pride’s roots are steeped deeper in history. The modern gay rights movement began here in 1969, when riots followed a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, an LGBTQ bar. Those protests are now commemorated in the city’s annual Pride Week celebration, one of New York’s most beloved festivals and with time, it has evolved way beyond its party-hard reputation of previous decades. The late June event includes a rally and parade, with more than 350 contingents marching through Manhattan.

This year, The NYC Pride March will take place virtually on June 27 with Grand Marshals Wilson Cruz from Star Trek: Discovery and activist Ceyenne Doroshow leading the event that includes live performances and street side activities. The Rally on June 25 will host a number of speakers in an online forum. There’s also a human rights conference and a Black Queer town hall.

Denver, Colorado
Famed for its mountains, craft-beer, legal marijuana, and hunky bearded men, Denver is also a magnet for LGBTQ+ people all over the ‘Wild West’. While the gorgeous Rocky Mountains are right on the doorstep, you can also find a diverse selection of gay bars, clubs, and bathhouses alongside plenty of art, culture and growing culinary scene.

Denver, Colorado’s PrideFest celebration, which takes place in mid-June is the most family-friendly gay pride event in the US. It has been growing in recent years, drawing more than 350,000 people. The festivities include parties, concerts, a parade, a 5-kilometer walk/run and activities like face painting for kids. Denver is also a dog-loving city, and the ‘Dogs in Drag parade’ is one of the most popular event of PrideFest. To keep the community safe and healthy during the Covid-19, the Denver Pride Parade is going virtual again for the 2021 Coors Light Virtual Denver Pride Parade.

Charleston, South Carolina
It is a charming city full of colourful architecture, oak-shaded plazas, and history aplenty plus tranquil beaches, making it a winning choice for Pride festivities. Charleston Pride Fest is a party like no other. It is one of the later pride events in the USA, taking place each year in September. It is the perfect excuse for an end of summer escape with great weather and a charming welcome. Charleston Pride Festival is held over 7 days with a series of rainbow studded events culminating in a final weekend pride festival and parade.

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