Tag: Activism | Varta Trust

This illustration is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph shows a scene from the dialogue ‘Queer Worldmaking in the Face of Conversion Therapy’ that took place at Kalinath Angan, Kolkata on January 18, 2025. Moderator Meghjit Sengupta (centre) and panellist Aritra C. (to Meghjit’s left) look on as panellist Meera Dhebar makes a point during the dialogue. Meera refers to a file on her laptop as she speaks. The laptop is kept on a centre table placed close to the three speakers. A Progress Pride Flag can be seen mounted on the wall behind the speakers. A phone mounted on a tripod stand for recording the dialogue is placed a couple of feet from the speakers. The scene captured in the photograph can also be seen on the mobile phone screen. The accompanying text says: “Because sometimes in this very cis-heteronormative and heteropatriarchal world steeped in discourses of othering, a few moments of solace in being seen can provide enough joy to carry us through the moments of isolation and disconnection.” Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Commentary Jun '25

On queer self-determination (part 1)

By Meera, Aritra C.

An e-conversation series between mental health professionals Meera Dhebar and Aritra C. on queer worldmaking across time periods and cultures

This photograph shows a mid-range shot of a collective display of the five zines made by the author Mekuriiko for the exhibition ‘Queer Objects 1.0’ organized in Guwahati in late 2023. Several copies of each of the zine are placed, somewhat casually, on a low box-like display stand. The display is just next to a blank white wall of the exhibition hall. The covers of the zines read ‘Love is Love’, ‘The Queer Manifesto’, ‘Queer Objects’, ‘Queer Revelations’ and ‘You Will Die, And So Will I’. A sticky note next to the zines urges the viewers to flip through the zines. Photo credit: Mekuriiko

Creations, Insight May '25

Storytelling through zines

By Mekuriiko

Mekuriiko writes for the first in a series of articles on the experience of the artists who participated in ‘Queer Objects 1.0’, a one-of-its-kind exhibition held in Guwahati in late...

This is a medium range indoor photograph of the launch ceremony of ‘Kink and Sex Work: A VAMP Institute Report’. The report launch was one of the highlights of ‘Kink Con 24’. Several people can be seen standing in a row, holding up a copy of the report, and facing the camera with a smile. From left to right are kink-affirmative psychologist and report co-author Pompi Banerjee; an anonymous member of the Kinky Collective who has covered their face with the report; feminist activist and report co-author Jaya Sharma; sex worker rights activist Aarthi Pai; theatre artist Mallika Taneja; sex worker rights activist Meena Seshu; and sex educator Leeza Mangaldas. A cinema screen and conference signage can be seen mounted on a wall behind the people mentioned. A few people in the audience can be seen seated while facing away from the camera. The conference room is illuminated gently with a mild golden glow. Photo courtesy Kinky Collective

Happenings Mar '25

On the right to one’s body and desires

By Pompi Banerjee

How sex workers navigate kinky desire and consent in their work was among the central themes of ‘Kink Con 2024’, writes Pompi Banerjee

This illustration is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph shows a small rainbow with the six queer pride colours (violet, blue, green, yellow, orange and red) drawn with chalk on a dark grey and stony sidewalk. The accompanying text says: “Clearly, family acceptance interventions must be broad-based and seek to lessen the burden on the parents, who may be just as trapped as their queer child by societal norms. There is nothing like allies emerging from within the family! Allies of not just the queer child, but also the parents. This could make it much easier for the parents to come to terms with their child’s reality.” Photo credit: Alex Jackman on Unsplash

Insight Nov '24

Queer allies in need of allies

By Mahua Seth

Mahua Seth points out the importance of allies within the larger family fold for parents of queer individuals

This daytime photograph shows 13 of the pilot Queer Kolkata Heritage Walk participants, a mix of genders and ages, posing for the camera below a gazebo at the Park Circus Maidan in South Kolkata on July 2, 2024. The gazebo was the starting point for ‘Friendship Walk ‘99’ on July 2, 1999, the 25th anniversary of which was observed through the heritage walk. Most of the participants, four of them ‘99ers’, are wearing bright yellow t-shirts designed for the occasion with the slogan “Bound by friendship, united in pride” emblazoned on the front side. There are brights smiles and laughter on their faces as they stand on the marble steps and platform of the gazebo, and look at the camera or at each other. Blue jeans, shorts, shoes, shoulder bags, and colourful umbrellas of the walkers compliment the bright green of the grass and shrubs behind the gazebo. The asbestos roof of the gazebo has an interesting pattern of blue, gray and rust, which stands out against the overcast sky. The pillars of the gazebo holding up the roof are coloured bottle green. Someone’s bedding and other personal possessions, possibly a street dweller’s, can be seen on the platform behind some of the walkers. Photo credit: Partha Banerjee

Happenings, Vartanama Sep '24

Where do we go to look for queerness in Kolkata?

By Mihir Seth

Mihir Seth reflects on the pilot Queer Kolkata Heritage Walk held on July 2, 2024 to mark the 25th anniversary of ‘Friendship Walk ‘99’

This graphic shows a poster made for the promotion of the film ‘Don’t Interrupt While We Dance’. On a scarlet red background, the name of the film in large stylized lettering in yellow and white is juxtaposed against the images of a gun and a dancing human figure, arms splayed. Several pairs of angry eyes symbolizing the damning eyes of the State or a repressive society, stare on in the backdrop, behind the lettering. The name of the filmmaker Anureet Watta is mentioned at the bottom of the poster. Poster design by Sharannya Eledath Mukherji and illustration by Yathaarth Yadav

Cinemascope, Insight Sep '24

How can we be gentle if we aren’t very angry?

By Anureet Watta

‘Don’t Interrupt While We Dance’ is a film about queer and trans joy interrupted by the State, police, and shadows of violence and scrutiny that have always been cast on...

This night-time photograph shows up close a scene from a pre-Independence Day rally near the Ruby Hospital crossing in South Kolkata to protest the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at R. G. Kar Medical College & Hospital on August 9, 2024. A throng of people fill up the photograph with raised fists, mobile phones with lit torches held up, banners with slogans like “We demand justice for victim” in English and Bengali, and a variety of posters with graphics and textual material. Some protesters are holding lit candles. The atmosphere seems charged with anger and cries for justice. In the background, is a building with its windows lit up and a large tree with leaves glistening under the streetlights. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Vartanama Aug '24

Embodying the justice one is demanding

By Pawan Dhall

Self-reflection and self-transformation have an important place in social campaigns for justice, argues Pawan Dhall

This photograph shows a scene from the re-enactment of the skit ‘Koti Ki Atma’ at Café Adda Ghar, Kolkata on November 4, 2023. Three actors are acting out a scene before a small invited audience. The play is being performed in an open but small and intimate part of the café, lit with a few overhead lamps and other sources of light not visible in the photograph. A black cloth background and a few props form the backdrop behind the actors who are facing the camera. Some of the members of the audience visible in the photograph, half a dozen or so (of the total 40-45), are seated close to the actors on plastic chairs, and have a bemused look as they watch the play up close. A video camera can be seen on the left edge of the photograph recording the play. A photographer, with her camera in hand, is also among the audience, standing just next to the people seated. Darkened tall glass panes forming one of the walls of the café can be seen behind her. A poster of the café menu is pasted on one of the glass panes. Photo credit: Suchandragraphy

From the Archives, Insight Jul '24

Remembered sexual futures

By Diksha Sanyal

Diksha Sanyal summarizes a study on the art and cultural advocacies undertaken by queer community groups in West Bengal in the 1990s and 2000s. The study has been co-developed by...

Happenings, Vartanama Jun '24

Celebrating the magic of friendship

By Pritha Bhattacharya, Sambrita Chakraborty

Pritha Bhattacharya and Sambrita Chakraborty report on an art exhibition to mark the 25th anniversary of ‘Friendship Walk ‘99’, India’s first rainbow pride walk held in Kolkata on July 2,...

Quote: Tamil Nadu’s draft gender and sexual minority policy does not simply make a claim for marriage equality for queer persons but nudges the State to reimagine the family beyond kinship and marriage. By doing so it focuses on the functional conceptualisation of the family, namely what families should do, as opposed to the form of the family, namely what families should look like. A functional approach thus seeks to centre values of mutual care, love and dependence as definitive of a family, as opposed to only marriage and biological relatedness. The draft policy thus marks an entry into a radical possibility of family law expanding beyond its narrow normative foundations.

Insight May '24

Queering the family: Tamil Nadu shows the way

By Namrata

Namrata writes about the developments around the Deed of Familial Association in Tamil Nadu and how it can lead to recognition of queer relationships

Vartanama May '24

Celebrating 25 years of friendship, pride and diversity

By 'Friendship Walk 25th Anniversary' organizing team

Extracts from a pamphlet for the 25th anniversary observations of ‘Friendship Walk ‘99’ to be held in Kolkata and other places in West Bengal primarily in July 2024

This photograph shows a mixed-gender gathering of people inside a room at the newly opened Community Art Space in Moirang Lamkhai. Around half a dozen people are seated on colourful rugs and carpets, along the walls of the room. One person, seated with folded legs on a carpet in the centre of the room, seems to be acting out a scene and rendering a dialogue while the others look on. The light grey walls of the room are lit with sunshine streaming in through a window in the far end of the room. A few posters on the Community Art Space adorn the walls. On the far end of the room, an empty three-seater wooden sofa and a foldable chair are placed along the wall. A whiteboard with some writing is placed on the ground along a wall to the left of the photograph. Photo courtesy Matai Society

Insight, Manipur Relief Apr '24

At the juncture of cultures, solidarities and differences

By Saki

Saki reports on the birth of a new creative space for queer-trans people in Moirang Lamkhai junction, which already has a rich history of bringing diverse people together

This daytime photograph shows around half a dozen parents and other family members of queer persons smiling brightly and walking behind a large banner of Sweekar – The Rainbow Parents at the ‘20th Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk’ held on December 17, 2023. The author is also among these parents. A few individuals walking behind them are holding up two placards in Bengali that translated into English say: “So what if they are trans or gay, they are our children.” The photograph has been taken at a point on Park Street, from where a part of the Maa flyover can be seen behind the walkers. A popular furniture store Wood Junction can be seen on the right side of the photograph, while several tall trees are visible on the left side. The background behind the parents is a mish-mash of hundreds of other walkers, hoardings, traffic lights, and overhead cable wires. The sky above is a clear greyish blue. Photo courtesy Sweekar – The Rainbow Parents

Vartanama Feb '24

Why I walked with the banner of Sweekar

By Mahua Seth

Mahua Seth walked as an ‘out’ parent of a queer child at the ‘20th Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk’ and loved every moment of it

This illustration is a combination of a photograph and text extracted from the accompanying article. The photograph is a display of a set of four tote bags made with cloth in combinations of bright colours like pink, blue, maroon, green and yellow. The fabric of the bags is sourced locally from Manipur. The bags have a vertical rectangular shape and have long handles made with thick cloth for ease of hanging the bag from one’s shoulder. The bags have a label made with thick paper clipped on one corner just below the handle – the label carries the name Matai Makes and provides details of Matai Society’s livelihood initiative to support the internally displaced people in Manipur. The accompanying text says: “The more prolonged the communal tension in the state, the longer will it take for normalcy to return in Manipur. This is where livelihood initiatives can play a crucial role because they help prioritize issues of survival and economic sustenance. Livelihood initiatives like those of Matai Society hold out the hope for a much larger process of self-reliance, recovery and healing in the state. This means that agencies like Matai Society and their partner organizations also need to sustain themselves.” Photo credit: Matai Society

Happenings, Manipur Relief Nov '23

Livelihood route to healing and recovery in Manipur

By Matai Society

Trans and queer youth are working out innovations to revive livelihood options for the internally displaced in Manipur. Matai Society urges you to join in

This illustration is a square-shaped collage created from scraps of magazine articles and photographs. Two post boxes, one in red and black, and another in red, peach and black colours, are superimposed on a background created by images of flowering shrubs in gardens, tall trees, and cotton white clouds in a blue sky. The post boxes seem to be floating in mid-air, perhaps conveying a sense of lightness of being. Scattered, random text can be seen on the post boxes. Someone is standing right behind the all-red post box; just their arms visible on the sides of the post box, which seems to have become part of their persona. Artwork credit: Tanvir

My Story Nov '23

Imagining queer futures in letters

By Tanvir

Tanvir on the role played by letters and the emotions contained in them (or attached to them) in queer community building

Quote: Justice Bhat issued a direction to the State to address the discrimination that trans and queer couples face in relation to social welfare entitlements and employment benefits in cases where such benefits can only be available to legally married couples. Justice Chandrachud spoke about the urgent need for anti-discrimination laws which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and give full effect to all civil and social rights of trans and queer persons. Justice Kaul agreed with him on the need for an anti-discrimination law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Advice - Rights and Laws, Vartanama Oct '23

Anti-discrimination mantra for long and happy trans and queer lives (married or not)

By Namrata

Namrata examines the Supreme Court’s marriage equality verdict and suggests further advocacy and litigation possibilities for queer activists and lawyers – with inputs from Lalit Panda, Senior Resident Fellow (Charkha),...

Tagged Under: Activism