On the Gaysi website, the Indian LGBT community reaches out to each other with support and advice.
Our last hug was very sensual. When I dropped her at the airport, we hugged tight, getting lost in each other’s warmth. I felt something fuzzy in my chest. We were refusing to let go of each other. When I finally managed to pull myself out of her arms, she leaned in, whispered “I’ll miss you!” and hurriedly planted a kiss, behind my right ear. She ran inside the airport, teary-eyed.
The above is an excerpt from a piece on gaysifamily.com, written by Valerie, under the ‘Fact or Fiction’ section. The piece is just one of the many captivating stories on the website, all written by Indian queers.
Gaysi Family, a website for desi gays across the world, was started in November 2008 by MJ and Broom, her London-based friend when they realised that India had a scarcity of quality online queer content. “The aim was to make you feel like you’re not the only one. The coming out process for any individual is never easy. After all, it is family and society one has to come out to,” says MJ. Her bio on the site describes her as a ‘100% shudh desi lesbian aspiring to top the ‘Hottest eligible desi-lezzie’ list one day.’
The idea behind Gaysi Family was to provide a platform for queers. Today, the website features opinions, personal stories, fiction , erotica, news about LGBT developments in India and across the world, book and film reviews. Some of the popular topics include ‘Coming Out’, ‘Aam Gaysi interviews’, ‘Homophobia’ and IPC 377.
The variety of content on the website is anything but cliché and boring. The fact that the contributions are not just from India, but from Indians living in other countries too, ensures that there is a diversity in the views expressed. The community keeps up with recent developments; for instance, a post on the ongoing Mumbai Lit Festival and another one titled ‘No, KJo, you’re not forgiven’, a bold piece slamming Karan Johar for the hypocritical portrayal of Rishi Kapoor’s sexuality in his movie, Student of the Year. The forum has discussion threads on an assortment of topics ranging from sex, the first person you came out to and if you would want to change anything about yourself if given the chance to be born again. “No. I would still want to be gay, despite the struggles involved. I am a better person, for having had to struggle,” is one of the member’s reply to the latter. While MJ says that the website can now be categorised into the social networking segment, the aim remains to reach out to as many people as possible without the need to meet them offline. In January this year, Gaysi Family was at the helm of Dirty Talk, an open mic event that was organised in Mumbai, as a part of the Bombay Pride festivities. The turnout at the event was splendid, says MJ, with a significant non-queer population present. “The essence of the event is to sensitise people, hence, there are no distinctions between heterosexuals and homosexuals.”
MJ says that the site sees nearly 900 hits in a day, a sign of how open Indians have become. “There may be zero comments under a story, but that does not mean that people haven’t seen it or related to it,” she signs off.
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