Queer Infocus | March II ’20

Queer InFocus is a bimonthly roundup of queer news in India.      

Manipur gives India its first all transgender football team

17th March, 2020

Ya All, an NGO based in Manipur, helped to form a 14-member all transgender football team and play a seven-a-side match in Imphal. Ya All has been working for the LGBTQ+ community in Manipur since it was founded in 2017. Chaki, vice captain of the team, hopes to one day be a part of state, national, and international level football tournaments in the transgender category.

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How a 27-year-old queer Indian brought drag to their city

19th March, 2020

Patruni Sastry is a 27-year-old, gender-fluid drag performer from Hyderabad. Many venues denied Patruni and his friends a space to perform, but a friend opened the doors of her cafe for the first performance, with up to 500 people in attendance. Now they have paved the way and many clubs and venues are open to having drag performances, helping set up a drag scene in Hyderabad.

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India’s transgender community struggles as coronavirus shuts life down

25th March, 2020

Many people from the transgender community are at a heightened risk of poverty, ill health and abuse due to India’s coronavirus lockdown. For those making their living on the streets, there is no social privilege of operating in an ‘online’ sphere. Other members of the transgender community may be estranged from their family, or living in unsafe and abusive spaces, whether that be with unaccepting family or not. Health check-ups have also been postponed indefinitely, leaving a lot of uncertainty and instability for many members of the transgender community.

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Please take a look at our article on what we can do as queer allies during COVID-19. 

The Pink List India have also published a list of organisations working towards providing immediate relief for the queer community across the country, which can be found here.