Karen and Barry Mason ran a gay pornographic bookstore, which was perhaps one of the largest and the only one of its kind in the 80s and 90s in the US. Soon, it also became the largest distributors of gay magazines and DVDs, until, as they said “the digital took over.”
By Saurabh Sharma Sep 25 2020 |
The film is an homage to desire and the sensuous nature of love. Although the spoken poem is about the journey of love making, with its highs and lows, the choice of not showing something inherently and explicitly sexual is a very clever one.
By Srishti Berry Sep 25 2020 |
The band that entered the musical scene in 2013 with “Head Held High” — a moving song dedicated to the LGBTQ+ Community — has now stepped out of its comfort zone by experimenting with a-capella.
By Saachi Gupta Sep 16 2020 |
Throughout the series, Masaba’s privilege is obvious, and so is her oblivion to it. Although Rytasha Rathore (who plays the best friend) does administer a reality check to Masaba, it ends at just that. As if being aware of your privilege is the end of it, when it’s only the first step.
By Sakshi Raikar Sep 15 2020 |
While most of these shows actually end with women deciding to take up space and revolt in a man's world, Churails actually begins with the question, "okay, but what happens after that decision?" And the show answers it by managing to address how with every layer of patriarchy that is peeled back we get more and more institutionalized toxic dominance, violence, and power imbalances rooted in sexism.
By Khushi Sep 8 2020 |
In any case, the EP is quintessentially Troye: vulnerable and honest, even as the sound dips into electronic pop.
By Saachi Gupta Sep 1 2020 |
Five out of six filmmakers were women. The odd one out, and first in the line up was 6:23 am by Geoffrey Breton (please note that the ‘Boys Shorts’ film category didn’t have a single female director, which is: not surprising).
By Sakshi Raikar Aug 31 2020 |
The title ‘Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know’ makes no attempt to conceal it’s YA (Young Adult) genre, and also leaves a few clues in the text just to make sure (for eg: the use of ‘deadpan’ as a verb). As Khayyam sleuths her way through the book to uncover Leila’s story and amplify her voice, it is ironic that the book title ‘Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know’, is a reference to Lord Byron’s reputation amongst women.
By Sakshi Raikar Aug 26 2020 |
Moothon tries to work around a lot of areas from the politics of underworld and crime to gender and queerness, but it does none of them entirely. It falls into the trap of being a Masala film trying to be an arthouse morality drama.
By Raqeeb Aug 20 2020 |
For a community that struggles to be recognised as valid by external actors, more often that not, queer relationships feel the pressure to be portrayed as perfect, in order to increase that claim for validity.
By Sakshi Raikar Aug 18 2020 |
The hope through education is to consistently allow each child the opportunity to be free to learn about and make space for identity markers that speak to one’s authentic truth. This is where I really appreciate how simply these two books with Ms Kuriyan’s playful illustrations drive home the need to see and accept oneself and other children (and everyone!) as unique individuals.
By Shivranjana Andromeda Rathore Aug 12 2020 |
Aloe was created by these life-changing experiences, these feelings that Jean couldn't seem to get rid of. 33 minutes long with five tracks, one bonus track and a reprisal, Aloe is a love letter to grief and its five stages.
By Saachi Gupta Aug 10 2020 |
‘When I Grow Up’ shows us how we may challenge gender-related stereotypes in books that we make and choose for young readers. In listing different kinds of engineers that Papori wants to be, the book mindfully challenges the stereotypical associations between gender and occupation.
By Himanshi Sharma Aug 8 2020 |
The magic realism of ‘My brother is a Mermaid’ and the monochrome colouring of ‘Mall’ show us what it is like to be a child in a prejudiced world- filled with gender roles and teachings that are not tailored to our individual identities.
By Sakshi Raikar Aug 7 2020 |
Coming to dates, that’s exactly what I was watching – a Netflix series called “love on the spectrum” showcasing Autistic people dating other Autistics. It was definitely a revealing look into a world unseen by most but too uncomfortably familiar to the Autistics.
By Abigail Aug 5 2020 |
Lua, Rai and Camis prepare for a night out in Sao Paulo. The preparation for a group night out is written with exquisite accuracy. Right from the day-long hype in the group chat, to picking out and explaining your choice of booze before the party, and finally getting there only to risk it all when that one song starts to play.
By Sakshi Raikar Aug 4 2020 |
Nagarkirtan is a story about two characters, Puti, a trans-woman stuck in a man’s body living in a ghetto for hijras in Kolkata with her Gurumaa and her chosen family, and Madhu, a cis-gender man who is a flutist with a kirtan group and a part-time delivery boy from the rural heartlands of Bengal.
By Raqeeb Aug 1 2020 |
Having a queer character as the protagonist is phenomenal, and I will admit that it is very liberating to watch him not encounter any form of discrimination due to his sexuality at all.
By Khushi Jul 29 2020 |
In the past three years, Girl in Red has become a household name for young queer girls everywhere. She has become the queer pop icon she always craved when she was younger, and as an out lesbian, her music is defiant and unabashedly queer.
By Saachi Gupta Jul 25 2020 |
Lovely is a hijra who works at traffic signals for a living. She lives in a slum in Kolkata and dreams of becoming an actor. Not only that she dreams it, but is working toward it. The setting is a breath of fresh air as most of the novels, when describing the movie world, are obsessed with the tinseltown, Mumbai.
By Saurabh Sharma Jul 23 2020 |
