This June, despite the dog days of summer, a huge crowd gathered at DLF Promenade to celebrate Pride Month. People were draped in diverse attires free from the constraints of prying eyes. From some rocking subculture styles like punk sequinned jackets, Gothic gowns and rave party dressing to others going for cross-dressing and androgynous fashion with tailored button-down blazers, fashion became an extension of one’s gender identity.
City folks had gathered to enjoy a show of talent and creativity by the LGBTQAI+ community at Tinder’s Queer Made Weekend (QMW) in collaboration with the queer arts organisation Gaysi Family. TMS was at the two-day festival that concluded recently.
The festival was dedicated to supporting over 30-plus queer businesses from India which displayed their creative products in diverse categories like fashion, art, home décor, accessories, food and more. “It is important to create shared spaces like this that help bridge the gap between queer folks and allies by creating opportunities for cisgenders and heterosexuals to expand their understanding of queers and break away from stereotypes that they have been conditioned into believing,” says Priya Dali, creative director, Gaysi Family.
We did a walkthrough at the festival to check out queer artistry, besides also awaiting the finale that saw power-packed performances by queer icons like Rani Ko-HE-Nur aka Sushant Divgikr, artiste Lasya Kahli Singh aka Kofi Kofi, along with Lavani queens from Kali Billi Productions, amongst others.
“Anchoring in my own city feels like a homecoming! The energy of Delhi people is infectious. It’s almost like a big house party,” says Teya, a queer runway muse who was hosting the event with city-based drag artist and model Prateek Sachdeva while city-based transwoman performer
Kofi Kofi felt that such events bring out the “fabulousness and talents of the queer community”.
Gender-inclusive fashion
We’ve often heard about kinks through pop-culture references where pleasure activities also known as BDSM (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadomasochism) involve consensual exchange of power through physical acts of control, sensory deprivation, restrain, and even pain and humiliation at times.
Bridging the gap between fetishes and fashion, Jaipur-based label Subculture by designer Randhir Singh displayed leather and latex-made kink-friendly pieces like buckled corsets, jockstraps, latex catsuits, crop tops, handcuffs, whips, and more that de-stigmatised sexual fetishes.
The Elite Thrift by Delhi designers Deepak and Ronak brought a treasure trove of gender-fluid clothing like shirts, dresses, jackets and pants. However, it was Ludhiana’s Genderse that caught our attention for its chest-binders which are helping transmen, transmasculine, non-binary and AFABS (assigned female at birth) in their gender-affirming journey.
Founder Riyam Jain, a transman, personally felt the need to make chest binders for the Indian market, born out of his own need. “I was assigned female by birth and started transitioning three years back. I felt discomfort with a developing chest and felt many have such discomfort while transitioning from one gender to another. They don’t have the money to go for surgery. Those who wanted chest binders had to get it for around Rs 5,000. from foreign brands which are too high for an innerware. I thought to solve the problem and provide affordable cotton-made, durable and comfortable binders for the non-binary community,” he says, showing us one of the binders he was wearing.
Art, accessories, quirks
As we moved towards the art stalls, Astitva Art’s showcase had Karnika Bai, a transwoman mural artist from Jaipur and lead artist at public art collective Aravani Art Project, jumping from her seat to tell us about her eco-friendly paper-mâché clay murals and magnets. While her artworks are largely figurative, Karnika ceases to assign any gender to her figures to celebrate inclusivity.
“I kept the name Astitva for my venture as it means ‘existence’. Just like the trans community is striving to gain recognition, paper-mâché art is also languishing and needs a spotlight. Astitva is my way to express both my identity and art,” Karnika says.
Khanjra, an initiative by Delhi’s Naz Foundation India Trust had jewellery crafted by transwomen sex workers while Noida-based Niche-Less Life’s gemstone jewellery appealed to those looking for whimsical designs. The visitors also marvelled at A Spinster’s fibre art products and Mumbai-based Krude’s polymer clay jewellery and illustrations for their vibrant hand-crafted products.
Reviving disability culture
The scope of inclusivity broadened further at the city-based collective The Revival Disability India (TRDI) run by differently-abled queer members. They had collaborated with anti-caste queer artists like Naveen Daniel, Aindriya Barua, Ritika Batra and Shoi /Saimita whose artworks sensitised the visitors on queer Dalit-queer representation, body positivity, and creating an accessible environment for all.
“We are rooted in creating a disabled culture where we believe that one can walk, wheel, limp or hop into the revolution as resistance can happen even if you’re bed-ridden but is willing to be a part of it,” says Nu, founder of The Revival Disability India (TRDI), who identifies as a trans disabled person and adds that the proceeds from the sales will go to Palestine. “I did not have much representation in my life as a disabled queer and hence I founded TRDI. My passion is to write and I write from queer perspective as there’s so little literature available on them,” she adds having contributed to a 2021 anthology Big Mistake (Penguin Random House) a genre-bending book for young adults.
Ask her if today’s pop-culture rightly portrays queers and she said she “liked” the recently released neo-noir film Love Lies and Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart as it not only had queer joy but even queer crimes. “I don’t just support queer rights, but queer wrongs too (laughs)!” she says.