Tag: India

November 12th marked the 10th Annual New Delhi Pride, where members of the LGBTQIA community, allies and activists came together to show that love is love. In India, gay sex is still illegal punishable with up to 10 years in prison. But that didn't stop the hundreds who marched regardless of the danger of persecution. Reigning RuPaul's Drag Race All-Star champion Alaska Thunderfuck was part of the New Delhi Pride festivities, appearing at the popular Kitty Su nightclub. https://www.instagram.com/p/BbaFk-VDUTl/ Check out these videos...

India is currently deciding whether to go forward with a new proposed plan for a Uniform Civil Code. The idea is to bring together the country’s many different religious groups and create a common public law for them all to follow. The Uniform Civil Code would affect laws around marriage, divorce, inheritance and parenting, and would be a massive overhaul for India’s legal system. India’s Law Commission asked a group of citizens to research and put together a draft for the proposed...

The university called her parents to help treat her 'disease' A university student in India was asked to move out of student housing for showing homosexual ‘tendencies’. The Bachelor of Arts student at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was banished from her housing but not expelled from the university. She was a student at the university’s women’s college, the Mahila Maya Vidyala. Hostel management said the honours student was thrown out because she was harassing her fellow boarders. But an unnamed professor...

Ibtisam Ahmed of the University of Nottingham confronts the British Empire’s continuing Colonial legacy of anti-LGBT laws. In a landmark ruling, India’s Supreme Court has confirmed an individual’s right to privacy – including sexual orientation – under the country’s constitution. The ruling on August 24 offers new hope for the LGBTQ+ community in India, still living under the homophobic legacy of the British Empire which criminalised same-sex relationships. A formal judgement on the law, known as Section 377, is still pending...

The five-month-old twins are called Yash and Roohi One of Bollywood’s most powerful men and India’s most famous gay man has become a father to twins. Karan Johar is a director, producer and talk show host who has made a string of Bollywood hits. As one of the most recognized faces in India he is extremely influential Johar’s twins were born in February via a surrogate mother, but he only shared a photo of them recently on Twitter. The photo is of Johar’s...

An entrepreneur in India is helping homosexuals get married through the way of arranged marriages. Urvi Shah created the International Marriage Bureau for Gays & Lesbians in 2015 and since then has helped 21 couples in India find long-term relationships and marriage. With same-sex activities considered illegal in India, the international service aims to provide couples with a way to “Get hitched without a hitch.” According to a study conducted of 600 people by TrulyMadly.com found that 69% of marriages are arranged. With...

'We do not work for heterosexuals'. LGBTI people from all over the world are looking to India to find love. The International Gay Marriage Bureau is an Indian website which is the only one in the world looking to arrange marriages for LGBTI people. Urvi Shah is the CEO of Custom Soul Connection LLP the parent company of International Gay Marriage Bureau. She told Gay Iceland she had originally started the website for Indian people who faced a lot of discrimination because of...

The film which explores sexuality and religion was banned because it was offensive to Hinduism A film about a gay love story that was previously censored might get the green light to screen in India. India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) banned Ka Bodyscapes earlier this year. It said the film ‘portrayed Hindu gods in an obscene light and had contents of nudity’. Hindu is the main religion in India and Ka Bodyscapes explores both homosexuality and religion. The movie tells the story...

The film was shot in secrecy due to India's extreme LGBT laws. Sudhanshu Saria’s debut feature, a gay love story shot entirely on location in India, will receive an exclusive global launch May 1 on Netflix, Deadline reports. The film premiered last year at SXSW. Because homosexuality in India is still a crime and punishable by life imprisonment, the filmmakers took a risk and produced Loev in secrecy. “I didn’t think it would be possible to cast or finance a film like...

Well, this is adorable. Parents of LGBTI kids come together to be the best allies they can be. In an first for India, parents of LGBTI people came together to plan a how to best support their children. The 10 parents attended a closed door workshop in Mumbai to share experiences and to plan their future support. The main aim was to develop ways a parents’ support group could help each other. They also discussed how to help other parents who may...

He was the world's first openly gay prince and now he's using his influence to help LGBTI people A prince who was the first in an Indian royal family to come out has called on the government to scrap the law criminalizing homosexuality. Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil created a media storm when he came out in 2006 and has since used his platform to champion LGBTI issues. In a recent visit as the key guest of the Nagpur pride march, Gohlil said...

Despite a lot of misconceptions about LGBTI people in the medical profession, these Indian doctors want to show they believe in equality. For the first time ever a group of distinct white coats will fill Mumbai’s pride march. Students from medical schools across the city will join the parade on Saturday to show their support for LGBTI equality. Marching under the banner Future Doctors for Equality the coalition of students the Queer Azaadi Mumbai – Mumbai Pride for the first time. Preet Sharma...

This after finding out he was in a relationship with a man. A young man in Kolkata, India has been subjected to physical and mental abuse after his family found out he was gay and living with another man. The India Times reports that the young man, whom they refer to as “Sanjoy,” is in his early twenties and lives with his partner. According to Sanjoy, when his parents discovered that he was in a serious same-sex relationship, they hired a group...

'In the real world, gay men come in all sizes, shapes and types, just like anybody else.' Bollywood actor, Meiyang Chang, has called for a more dignified portrayal of gay characters in the industry. Chang is an Indian actor of Chinese descent, a television host and singer, and plays a gay character in a new web series called "Untag." https://twitter.com/justvoot/status/816940348303884288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw On playing a gay character, Chang said: ‘My primary concern was not to be the stereotypical, caricaturist character that our Bollywood films of the...