Growing up queer in a small town in India is no piece of cake, as Shashank (36), a queer trans person from Himachal Pradesh, discovered early on in life. The vibrancy of the pride parades, the pulsating beats of pro-LGBTQ songs, the slogans advocating for tolerance, solidarity and equality, all common sights in the metropolitan cities, seldom made it to their hometown.
As Shashank attempted to articulate their existence by joining groups tailored for queer persons, about 1500 km away in Kolkata, Don (30) was doing the same. “Don’t be fooled by expecting things to be open in metropolitan cities,” the latter cautions.
As a non-binary trans person often at the receiving end of homophobic comments, Don left home soon after high school in a bid to find work and a safe space. But these eluded him.
“I soon figured that even places and events that pride themselves on queer activism have a code on who can come to these things. Frankly, I was bored with the same…