Now that one has got a legal nod, one can’t deny that the queer community is trying to create a space in the hearts and minds of people. They are still struggling for acceptance in the mainstream. The spurt of magazines by the community seems like both a proclamation of a hushed revolution, and a way of making their voices heard.
Vipin, 26, counts around eight gay magazines he is hooked on to. Interestingly, all of them are from India. The prominent ones out on the stands include Bombay Dost, Fantasy and Fun. And on the Internet Jiah, Pink Pages and Queer Chronicle enjoy a huge readership. “The magazines talk about everything from gay fashion to lifestyle. Like Fun, instead of conventional female models, has a lot of male models on the glossy pages,” says Vipin, who’s gay. Gay prince of Rajpipla Manvendra Singh Gohil, is the editor of Fun, and is pushing the cause for gay equality through this magazine.
Bombay Dost, India’s first gay magazine was re-launched recently. Editor Ashok Row Kavi says, “There is a huge market and need for these magazines in the country. But what we lack is a proper business plan. We need advertisers. This was the only reason why the magazine had to be closed for so many years. Even now we are finding it hard to sustain it. We are trying to create interesting plans to rope in advertisers, and encourage buying.” The magazine is sold at bookstores or can be got via mail order, but the problem is that people can’t take a gay magazine home, Ashok adds.