More than a party

A big queer weekend invites city slickers to experience queer culture and mark the second anniversary of the reading down of Section 377

Even as you read this, confetti is raining in New York as gays celebrate what they call the marriage equality act.

The New York gay pride march was much headier last weekend, as gay activists and supporters celebrated the landmark same-sex marriage bill being turned into a law.
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Ma Faiza plans to keep them spinning

The 'Marriage Equality Act' was signed into a law by the New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo. The flourish on that signature brought to an end months of back 'n' forth between supporters and opponents. With the law, the US has thwacked anti-gay marriage opponents for a mighty six.
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The passage will make New York the sixth and largest US state where gay couples can legally wed, once the bill takes effect in 30 days.
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India is many light years behind on the gay rights front, but balloons are flying in Mumbai too. A big queer weekend is looming. Saturday July 2 is the pink-letter day with a Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) party being slated at the Lower Parel venue, Blue Frog.

Nite
The Q Nites as the July 2 event is called, has a catch line that reads, Bring out the Queer in You. Event producer Apphia K says the Q Nite is a complete package.
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There would be queer performers to queer-centric enterprise like D Closet and Azad Bazaar having stalls at the venue, to, "a queer market which is on the lines of a flea market."u00a0

Some performances include a stand up comedy act by a comedian called Nidhi, singers Alisha Baath and Leon De Souza belting it out and a concept called spoken word poetry by Apphia K.

Apphia K says of the venue which is a break away from venues traditionally associated with gay parties and much more mainstream.

"More people are learning the value of what is known as the pink rupee. Places have turned us down in the past, as they have been wary of being known queer venues, yet, I think it is important that people experience us as a queer culture and learn that we don't bite.
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India is ready for more such spaces, opines the Kolkata-based event producer, who explains, "I have experience homophobic hate in Leicester (UK).
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I was part of Leicester Pride last year and as we marched along the streets there were people, Leicester locals holding hate cards. I have never experienced that here, in Mumbai at the gay parade or in Pune too.
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I felt so proud of being an Indian woman then." For Apphia K the visibility that a march on the road or a party in a mainstream place brings is all a progression, "It proves we no longer have to hide in the shadows," she ends.

Space
How can one hide when strobe lights sweep across the floor, shine in your face blinding you temporarily and give the dancing feet on the floor more zing? Ma Faiza, from Pune, who tells this journalist, "Not to describe me as a DJ, many journalists write DJ Ma Faiza" is going to be playing the tracks on QNites.

Says Pune-based Ma Faiza, who has been in Mumbai preparing for the show since the past week, "Some of the tracks I play might couch a message. Like Gloria Gaynor's, I am what I am for instance." Yet, this is not just about defiant lyrics.


At the Gay Pride in Mumbai

"It is also about having fun, a lot of flamboyance, a lot of art. It is a showcase for the community which is talented and artistic, this gathering is going to push boundaries with its content which has to be exquisite," says Ma Faiza. Ma Faiza adds that traditionally, gay parties have a reputation of, "being the best parties in the world" and, "I see this one taking that to another level."u00a0

Visible
For Ma Faiza it is like Apphia K said, "about being visible. Incidentally, Ma Faiza would find it hard to be invisible - literally speaking.

At six-foot tall with a size 11 shoe, Ma Faiza is seen and her music is heard, "I am an out lesbian and the reason I give my picture publicly in the media at times, is because I want people to know that gays are real people, we are professionals, we can be artistes, we are queer, we are here, there and frankly, everywhere."

Ma Faiza adds that, "As India opens its doors economically, we want India to open her mind, too." Having said that, Ma Faiza signs off stressing that this party is also about, "marking two years of the reading down of Section 377.

There is a note of sobriety beneath the celebration, different from the gay parties on the queer calendar. This is not to demean other parties, each one of them special in their own way but this one will have soul."u00a0

Where is it?
Q Nite is being held At The Blue Frog at Mathuradas Mills Compound, N M Joshi Marg, Lower Parel, Opposite Kamala Mills Compound. On Saturday July 2. The event is open to everyone. Walk in and buyu00a0u00a0 tickets at the venue for Rs 500 each.

What is section 377?
Chapter XVI, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is a piece of legislation in India introduced during British rule of India that criminalises sexual activity "against the order of nature." The section was read down to decriminalise same-sex behaviour among consenting adults in a historic judgement by the High Court of Delhi on 2 July 2009. Section 377 continues to apply in the case of sex involving minors and coercive sex.