Living queer in Delhi
Below is an excerpt from an article in Delhi Timeout magazine. It is the only article in the gay and lesbian section of the mag and gives an interesting snapshot of queer life in India's capitol: "Things are sunnier than they have been for a long time. There are safe places now - helplines, support groups, queer-friendly therapists, bakers, the internet, hair stylists and fashionistas, mental health professionals, parents, lawyers and cops (ok, that one's a joke). There are places to meet and share - from queer urban families that band together to online email groups and meetings marked by roses on sunday afternoons to a home in Category A colony that is a communal space, a salon, a hospital, and an advocacy group.
There are activist types at the India Coffee House plotting for queer rights. There are clubs where the women's loo doubles as a storage room and a safe place. There are women paying off joint home loans for queer apartments named after rivers. There are the army of nameless queers who wont read this colum; the gay men who only sleep with straight men; and the women who are only lesbian-when-abroad. There are kothis who are married, some to women, others to men. It's a complicated queer and alive world, with all the trappings therein.
The fact that my name is not on this column shows you that things are still fragile. A 150 year old law hangs over our heads, but in the Delhi High Court, the queers are fighting back through a constitutional challenge to Section 377. "