The power of pink: How LGBTQ community could add to our economy

Earlier this year, Hong Kong-based LGBT Foundation released a report that said that if the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community were a country, it would be the world's fourth-largest economy with a GDP of $4.6 trillion. To cater to this community, the foundation set up by Hornet Networks (a social app for gay men), which has over 25 million members across the world, is planning to launch LGBT Tokens — a cryptocurrency for the queer community. While the cryptocurrency may seem a far-fetched idea, with laws governing them at various stages of development across the world, it definitely is an indication of the large size of the LGBTQ (Q – queer) market. In just one country – the US – LGBT business owners contribute over $1.7 trillion to the GDP, said a report released in January this year by the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), US's business voice of LGBT.

What of India, where homosexual relations continue to be banned under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code?       
There are about 2.5 million gay people in India, according to the government's submission in the Supreme Court; another report, The birth of pink economy in India, released by public relations firm MSL in 2012, put the figure at 2-13% of the population – that is between 20 million and 130 million. "Even if you go with the conservative number, that's a significant market opportunity," says Jaideep Shergill, co-founder, Pitchfork Partners Strategic Consulting LLP, a Mumbai-based communications strategy boutique.

Gays and lesbians, in the US, tend to have higher median incomes – a 2016 report by the US Treasury Department revealed. The average household income of gay couples at the time of the report was $1,76,000 and that of lesbian couples was $1,24,000, while that of heterosexual couples was $1,13,000. Also, they usually do not live in traditional family units, with the need to support elderly members and children. So their higher disposable incomes make them attractive targets for marketers and brands. No wonder a few companies in the West have begun investing 10-19% of their marketing budget for this segment, according to American marketing research firm Chief Marketer.

India has a long way to go in this area. Besides Section 377, there's deep-seated social stigma against the community in India, which has led to their discrimination in education and employment. And this has economic consequences. According to a 2014 article in Time magazine by MV Lee Badgett, a professor of Economics, at University of Massachusetts Amherst, "Even with conservative assumptions that make costs low, the estimated losses to the Indian economy range from 0.1-1.4% of national output, a meaningful loss that no country – rich or poor – would want to bear. The bottom line: India could be throwing away more than $26 billion a year by stigmatising LGBT people". Thankfully, some industries have a few segments catering to them, of late. We list a few:

Hospitality

The hospitality sector has been the most proactive in catering to the queer population, with cafes, bars and restaurants such as Chez Jerome – Q Café, PDA, Depot48 and Kitty Su offering an LGBTQ-friendly environment.
Foremost among them is the Lalit Group, which runs the nightclub Kitty Su. It has been organising 'CU Next Thursday' since July 2016, an inclusive night for the LGBTQ community. Kitty Su also hosts drag queens from India and abroad.

"The Kitty Su character is a drag queen; she is me if I were a woman," says Keshav Suri, Lalit Group's executive director, who is openly gay and recently moved the Supreme Court, seeking to decriminalise homosexuality. While Kitty Su was always a safe and inclusive space, it was the shooting incident at a gay nightclub in Orlando in June 2016, that prompted Suri decide to start LGBTQ nights and to host drag queens. But was this move good for the business? "When I hosted American drag queen Violet Chachki for the sixth anniversary of Kitty Su in August 2017, 1,900 people turned up. Kitty Su is in its seventh year, I haven't renovated it once and yet this is the best it has been doing. Now I have a Kitty Su in Mumbai and Chandigarh (launched in 2015). I have been able to offer a safe space and open up to new clientele."

There's also Mumbai-based tour operator The BackPack Travels, founded by queer rights activist Nakshatra Bagwe around a year and a half ago, that organises gays-only trips mostly to beaches along the Konkan coast. Bagwe has organised eight tours so far, each consisting of 30 to 50 people. Priced between Rs 3,000 and Rs 12,000, the tours are of two-three days' duration and have been very popular with the gay community, with clients coming in from all over Maharashtra, Gujarat, and further afield from Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. "We haven't been able to reach out to lesbians, who are more scattered," says Bagwe. "They come by flight and stay in a hotel at their own expense." "People don't really bother–if you go and behave nicely to them they'll be fine," he adds, about the reaction of hoteliers and guests.

Health

After Thailand, India is emerging as the preferred destination for gender reassignment surgery. The reason? It's low cost – Rs 2.5-Rs 8 lakh depending on whether it's male to female or female to male. Male to female transformation costs less because it requires a single surgery to remove the penis and construct the vagina, labia and clitoris, says Dr Richie Gupta of Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh (Delhi), who sees around 150 such patients a year. This is followed by hormonal therapy to develop breasts. The female to male transformation takes longer and costs more, as it involves three surgeries – breast reduction, removal of female internal genital organs and penis reconstruction. The entire process takes several months to years.

It's not just foreign patients, transgenders in India, too, are seeing the wisdom of getting gender reassignment surgeries done at these modern hospitals instead of relying, as they earlier did, on quacks. Mumbai-based lecturer Pooja*, for instance, was born male, and decided to undergo gender reconstructive surgery in 2002. It cost her about Rs 6 lakh, which she could afford on her lecturer's salary. Pooja also underwent voice change surgery and body contouring and now lives as a woman, with a different identity and profession. "I am married to a heterosexual man, but my in-laws aren't aware of my transformation," says the 40-year-old, who now works as a make-up artist. It's Pooja's love for make-up she admits to spending 10-20% of her earnings on it – that led her take it up professionally.

Fashion

Pooja isn't the only one among the queer community to go big on make-up, clothes, and the like. "Since part of the community is artistic and has the spending purse to indulge, there are members of the community that will buy quirky accessories and clothing that appeal to their aesthetics. However, like most people, the community is looking for quality and finish above all else and are willing to pay for it," says fashion designer and Padma Shri awardee Wendell Rodricks, who is openly gay. Rodricks, however, says he doesn't design for the LGBTQ community.

On the other hand, is Indian American LGBTQ rights activist Alok Vaid-Menon, whose recently-launched second line of 'gender nonconformity' clothes includes garments in quirky bold colours and designs. "I started wearing skirts and dresses about five years ago and realised how difficult it was to find them in my size. When I would go to the store to shop, I often experienced a lot of judgment and harassment for trying on these garments. I wanted to start designing because I feel so much of being trans is about feeling you don't 'fit in'. I wanted to make clothing that 'fit' me–in all senses of the word," says Menon. While the designs are not for sale – Menon came up with a lookbook to interpret gender-neutral fashion – the LGBT activist is hopeful of collaborating with designers and brands.

"Fashion is a segment the community spends a lot on," agrees Pahal Foundation's Darvesh Singh Yadavendra, an LGBTQ activist who has helped organise events such as Lucknow's Pride Walk. Zara and Levi's, he says, are favourite brands among the community. Zara, he emphasises, match their taste, while Levi's is seen as pro-LGBTQ because of an ad campaign featuring gay men with a message that the brand did not differentiate. Has it made him buy Levi's? "Yes," says Yadavendra, adding that the ad may certainly have increased the sales as they are loyal consumers.

Finance

In India, a large segment of the community has suffered economically due to discrimination. But that's slowly changing, especially since 2015, when the Reserve Bank of India directed banks to list the third gender category in their forms. "A lot of people are investing in pension funds, life insurance, etc. Financial security has become a top priority," says Yadavendra. Manvendra Singh Gohil, a member of the royalty of Rajpipla in western Gujarat, has been organising workshops with financial institutions and advisors to encourage the community to invest. "The Security Exchange Board of India also got in touch with me and we will conduct workshops on mutual funds," he says. Despite these green shoots, however, India is a long way from becoming an inclusive economy. What can be done about this? Prof Badgett suggests, "The government can bring in policies related to the full inclusion of LGBT people – that's one place to start. In addition to employment discrimination, health disparities and discrimination in the education sector are places to work on."

*Name changed on request