Good As You, Bangalore

A social and intellectual space for LesBiGay people in Bangalore, India

A Newbie’s Guide to Queer Pride (Bengaluru Pride 2011)

November 28th, 2011 by dhroovQ

It was the fourth Pride in Bangalore, and yet it happened to be my first… But the experience was equivalent to having attended all four…

The atmosphere was absolutely electric… The thronging crowds had many familiar faces, and almost all unmasked, which was very admirable… I myself was torn between wanting to wear a mask and removing it altogether, so finally concluded on removing it for most part, and donning it only when video cameras were around, recording.

The numbers were very inspiring. It’s tragic how the newspapers always manage to downplay the attendance but 1000+ could’ve been a fairly accurate count!

Wherever one looked, there was singing and dancing, chanting of slogans in multiple languages, banners with witty remarks, rainbow masks, wigs, banners and flags…

I suppose what delighted me the most was the official representation from IBM, Goldman Sachs and Google (up from IBM and GS, last year)… Google was also handing out the most adorable badges and stickers depicting 2 Android’s holding hands and waving the Rainbow Flag. Should make it a point to upload a picture later. Do correct me if I’m missing out on any, and I’ll be glad to add to the list… It would be even more fantastic if the IT folks could rope in their own companies for representation next year… (You don’t have to come out to them to do so, especially the ladies)
I know that I’ll be doing my best!

Come 2012, for other first timers who might be struggling between the decision of whether or not to participate, I’d say just go for it. The faces that are captured by the media in those thronging crowds are almost always those who want to be captured, and it’s quite easy to dive in, have fun and get away, with or without a camouflage. In fact, come around on time and you can get your face painted in attractive colours and designs. I assure you, your Aunty Shiela won’t come to know (unless you want her to!)
If you’re apprehensive about it because you don’t know anyone else who’s attending, or can’t convince a friend, watch this (and other spaces) for schedules of pre-pride events such as the annual Garage Sale, Diversity Mela, poster-making events etc. which would give you ample opportunity to meet and connect with other queer folks who are planning to participate all gung-ho, so that come the grand Finale, you won’t feel alone :-)

I’m most disappointed that it’s all over, and there seems little to look forward to (at this scale) but for the Queer Film Festival in February. Regardless of that, Bengaluru Pride 2011 was an absolutely fabulous one, and I hope you all can make it next time round.

Cheers!

Tags: Pride 2011
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July 2nd- Celebrating the Second Anniversary of the Naz Foundation (377) Judgement

June 30th, 2011 by

Join us in celebrating the second anniversary of the Naz Foundation (377) judgement in Bangalore!

Schedule: July 2nd, 2011 (Saturday)

9:30 am to 10:30 am – release of balloons- Victoria Statue (Cubbon park)
4 pm to 6 pm – Love in the Time of 377- Cubbon Park Bandstand- sharing your stories, poems, letters, as we
celebrate the second anniversary of the Naz Foundation Judgment.
6 pm to 9 pm- queer cinema double feature- Swabhava office (4th Floor, No. 1 M.S. Plaza, 13th A Cross, 4th Main Road, opposite Sampangiramnagar Police Station)

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Public Meeting on Police Act amendments at Town Hall – July 1st, 3pm to 6pm, 2011

June 30th, 2011 by

It is exactly two years since the Delhi High Court decriminalized homosexuality, and recognised the constitutional right to equality, liberty, dignity and privacy of sexual minorities in India. The Campaign for Sexworkers and Sexual Minorities Rights (CSMR), Karnataka, would like to use this opportunity to celebrate this landmark decision, and at the same time highlight recent developments related to sexual minorities in the state.

The Karnataka Government while getting rid of a number of archaic legislations earlier this year, has introduced amendments to the Karnataka Police Act that will criminalise gender minorities in the state. This amendment contradicts the Delhi High Court’s Naz Foundation judgement that read down section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, and also contradicts the state government

Tags: 377, hijras, Naz Foundation, Police Act
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Bengaluru Pride website and schedule

November 9th, 2010 by

The schedule of Bengaluru Pride 2010 is here !.


Bengaluru Pride and Karnataka Queer Habba 2010 (Nov 18-28)
Support us by visiting

www.bangalorepride.com

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Good As You and Bengaluru Pride 2010

November 6th, 2010 by

Good As You is one of the co-organisers of Bengaluru Pride and Karnataka Queer Habba 2010, scheduled this month. For information on the events and their schedule, please look at our website !

Good As You and the Swabhava space are directly involved in the first few events, so here is a heads up for all of you …

  • In Memory of Famila – a small event where friends of Famila share memories and thoughts – this is at Swabhava today from 5-7 pm. Famila was a well known transgender activist in Bengaluru who passed away in 2004. More info is here.
  • Posters, banners, T-shirts, hats, wigs, flags ….. come and make them all for Pride March ! We are organising two workshops for this – on Nov 11th (6-9 pm, Swabhava) and Nov 13th (3-6 pm, Samara). More info here.
  • Garage Sale and Varnam Sale – The Pride benefit Garage Sale is being organised by Good As You and WHAQ this year and we are looking forward to your participation and help. More info here.

Bengaluru Pride and Karnataka Queer Habba 2010 (Nov 18-28)
Support us by visiting

www.bangalorepride.com

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Good As You Session, 16th Sep, Thursday….

September 17th, 2010 by

T.G.I.T-Thank God it

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Good As You Session, 9th Sep, 2010

September 9th, 2010 by

This Thursday the sudden evening downpour brought with it a pleasant and chilling weather at Bangalore.

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Bengaluru Pride 2010 : Call for funding

September 7th, 2010 by

Bengaluru Pride and Karmataka Queer Habba 2010

!! Call for funding !!


We have organised a fabulous LGBTQ Pride in Bangalore the last two years, with all your help and participation, and we plan to do even better this year !

This year’s Pride is, like before, organised through CSMR (Coalition for Sexuality Minorities Rights), which is a collective of many many LGBTQ groups, allied supporters and individuals.

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Good As You Session, 2nd Sept

September 3rd, 2010 by
Gosh! Satan seems to be following me for the last three weeks particularly in
the Thursday evenings to prevent me from attending the G.A.Y sessions. This week
it made my vehicle break-down. But I have always been able to defeat it as a
result of which I manage to get some way to attend the sessions.
This Thursday I was in very late. The first topic of discussion was about how to
make a participant avoid feeling excluded in the sessions. Normally anyone who
keeps silent for a long time while a discussion is taking place is considered to
have such a notion. But I differ with such an idea. Silence may be a sign that
the person is an avid listener. Some may have a fear in speaking within a social
gathering. At the same time one person may take a long time to become open
within the forum. I still keep silent on most part of the discussions. It is not
necessary that a person who is not participating in the discussion would feel
excluded from the group. I have received responses from person(s) who never
attended any of the G.A.Y session but still follow(s) the posts.
But that does not mean we can’t try to make our sessions interesting as some of
the participants emphasized.
After a while what transpired was exactly the opposite of the above discussion.
I was the only silent spectator who never spoke a single word on the next topic.
The discussion was on the topic “Is one’s sexuality has a factor from Nature or
Nurture?”
I saw a heated debate opening up on this matter. It is really difficult to
choose a side for this topic. Some of the participants told it is more of nature
to determine one’s sexuality.
But it is a known fact that genes being responsible for a person being gay is
still in a debateable stage. So it is very difficult to choose from Nature vs.
Nurture. The discussion went little disarray as one of the participants put
forward the question” Is there any particular age to realize one’s sexuality?” A
great number of participants agreed on the idea that there is no such age. The
Nature vs. Nurture debate came back to limelight in a little while after the
answer to the above question was put forward.
One of participants emphasized on the nurture side by proposing an adaptive
paradigm while bringing-up a kid. Vinay highlighted one incident in US to
emphasize the difficulty in choosing nature or nurture. I am not giving any
details about this fact as most of the people would know about it.
I would certainly agree with Vinay on this topic. To put forward this opinion I
would like to tell about one of my habits. I keep changing my dress for almost
thrice a day. Someday I would go to office wearing formals in the morning but
after lunch I would change to casuals. It may be exactly opposite the next day.
Most of the time I don’t repeat wearing the same dress in any other day of the
week. So roughly it would be wearing ten dresses in a week at my work place. I
have been nurturing this habit for the last few years. I feel it is a way of
expressing my sexuality without having to tell about it in my work place. I
understand for many of you it sounds weird but this habit I have chosen, nobody
has advised me.
Last but not the least there would be a film screening at the Swabhava’s this
weekend. I am not sure of the names of the films.
Happy Janmastami and Ganesh Chaturthi(in advance)….:-)
Bye —-Anirban :-)

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Make your own movie for Pride !

August 28th, 2010 by

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