India’s Little Gay Magazine That Could

SOURCE: The Advocate
AUTHOR: Amita Parashar

In a country where it’s still illegal to be gay, a newly relaunched LGBT magazine is becoming a strong voice for a growing community.

Bombay Dost (Bombay Friends), India’s first and only LGBT publication, has just relaunched after going out of print in 2002 when the then-underground publication ran out of financial support. The original Dost, which printed from 1990 to 2002, was available mostly through roadside vendors and often wrapped in plain brown paper.

“There is a sense that certain sections of Indian society are now much more liberal and tolerant, something that would be unheard of back in 1990,” editor Vikram Phukan told Advocate.com via e-mail.

Six weeks into the relaunch, Bombay Dost has sold two thirds of its initial print run — nearly 1,000 copies.

It is still illegal to be gay in India, thanks to a British colonial-era law banning sex “against the order of nature,” but the LGBT community is making strides. The country’s capital, New Delhi, held its first pride march last year and the Delhi high court is currently hearing a case that may decriminalize homosexuality.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed — we want a ‘Freedom, at last!’ cover!” Phukan said.

The magazine, portions of which are available on the magazine’s website, features LGBT news, features, and analysis from around the country and world. The new version of the magazine will be published twice a year and sell for 150 rupees ($3). Bombay Dost has garnered three years of seed funding from the United Nations Development Program and hopes to become financially self-sustaining before then.

Celina Jaitley, Bollywood actress and former Miss India, has thrown her support, and money, behind the magazine’s relaunch, though she has received hate mail for doing so. Jaitley told The Times of India that homophobia was responsible for taking the life of a close gay friend and she won’t be deterred by the intolerance. Phukan applauds Jaitley’s courage and said that Bollywood “attracts more than its fair share of queer professionals,” yet few come out for fear of losing social standing and professional work.

The editorial staff has already begun work on the second issue of Dost, which will come out in October 2009. It will feature a piece on college hazing (which Phukan calls “viciously homophobic and also latently homosexual”) and address why Indian male models appear perennially crotchless.

Bombay Dost is now in bookstores and on newsstands across India and available internationally through the magazine’s website.