BENGALURU: The pandemic created havoc for many businesses across sectors. The businesses owned by the LGBTQ community are no different. To extend the celebration of pride month, Tinder India— a dating app—is partnering with Little Black Book (LBB) and Gyasi family to introduce ‘queer made’ products to people. The ‘queer made’ initiative is dedicated to celebrating , supporting , and amplifying businesses and products made, owned, and run by India’s LGBTQIA+ community.
Tinder will match sales generated by Queer Made over 10 weeks and donate it to Born2Win, a transgender person-led organisation working towards the empowerment of members of the transgender community through education and employment. As a part of the extended pride month celebration, over 100 brands have registered across India and some Bengaluru- based brands are also listing their products on the e-commerce platforms. Funded by Laksha and Nakul Aiyappa, Sassage Stickers, sell stickers themed on mental health and LGBTQ awareness.
“This platform is important for us. We design our stickers themed around the LGBTQ community. I am part of the queer community and want to design stickers for them because I believe every identity is important. It’s my way of giving it back to the community,” says Laksha who established the brand in March 2021. Fueled by her passion for baking, Sauparnika Sajjan, a mental health advocate, founded Saupy’s Kitchen in 2020. The inspiration behind this Bangalore-based venture was to integrate her love for baking and zeal for mental health. While specialising in cakes, bread, and alcohol-induced desserts, Sajjan is organising pop-up stalls to raise funds for the LGBTQ community.
“Tinder and LLB are massive companies. I believe that this platform will help me get a wide outreach with an opportunity to network with more people,” says Sajjan. Jesmin Ahmed, the founder of Quire Studio—a brand that specialises in jewellery and candles—believes that representing queer-made products is essential. “This initiative has helped me gain an audience base for queer made jewellery and candles,” she says.
Meanwhile, Disha Pai, founder of Phirki, collects old clothes from people by hosting collection drives in Bangalore. “While our main focus is on sustainability, we’re looking to hire smaller artisans and tailors so that we can make an impact at a grassroots level which could lead to a lot of opportunities for queer people who want to explore fashion or get ideation help in the field of design,” says Pai.