#queer india

[prarthanaprasad]

Based on a 1970’s guide published by a Feminsit Lesbian Newsletter from Atlanta which is MY NEW FAVOURITE thing on the internet

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

Hello maggots I love you all!! After the trans poem I wrote a lot of people sent me asks and comments about how it gave them hope, especially Indian queer people, and I can't reply to all of them at the moment (although I love reading them, they make my day) but I just wanted to repeat: You are not alone.

There will be grief, and anger, and helplessness, all of which are valid and justified and right. It's a fucking awful state of affairs out there. It's scary and it is unfair. That is undeniable.

There is also joy, and love, and kindness. If not someone else's, then your own. There is hope even in the shittiest of places. There are moments when you feel like you are yourself, when people see you for who you are, when you find a friend or you look in the mirror and smile, when you have your favourite food for lunch and when a dog wags its tail at you.

All of this exists at the same time. Be angry, be happy, be tired, be kind. Hope makes it easier to fight, joy gives you something to fight for. Sometimes the greatest act of defiance is knowing that you are worthy of living when the world tries to tell you that you are not.

I love you. You are not alone.

[wren-ash]

Find the article here!

[artcinemas]

hello, the hindublr cynic here. people in manipur are still being fucking murdered. the government who claims for an amrit kaal is doing jack shit for them. queer people in india are still unsafe (personal experiences here so try and prove me wrong!). sc/st people still suffer. hindi politics has lead to hate crimes against south indian settlers (so apparently india does not have 22 offical languages? /src). so, use the same energy y'all had for the pran prathistha for these things too because i've never seen most one of you speak up about it.

[chronicpoetry]

didnt wake up in the arms of a pretty femme... day ruined.

[bhairavirasingh]

When the non binary planet fell in love with a gender fluid deity <3

part 1 here

part 2

Ila/Sudyumna: she/him

Budh: they/them

source: the Hindu mythology tales according to which Ila gave birth to Chandravanshis (the lunar dynasty) and Budh was the Mercury planet

"Budh!"

Budh shot straight up

Was it a figment of their imagination or-

"BUDH!"

"Prince?"

Sudyumna came into sight, glint in his eyes and tightening his grip on his bow

"Shh" he said and closed behind a tree beside Budh "It's hunting time! Being in the palace alone it does indeed get boring in the kingdom after a while if you aren't the ruler yourself. I thought I'd come here and suddenly remembered you" He winked at Budh whose heart skipped a beat at that

Hold yourself together

Budh shook the thoughts away

"Look!" Sudyumna lowered his voice and crouched

A deer was about to enter the grove, his head turning around scanning for possible danger. When he suspected none, he jumped over the boundary from the path to inside the forest now

Just as Sudyumna was pulling his bowstring backward, keeping his eyes on the deer, his mouth fell upon

A light was surrounding the deer until it wasn't visible and when it dissolved, the deer's antelope had vanished

It had turned into a female!

Sudyumna turned to look at Budh with widened eyes

"Magic of Shravana" they explained "Whichever male creature enters the forest transforms into a male"

Sudyumna couldn't believe their words. He suddenly looked around his own body in frenzy "NO!" He put his hands up against his face and closed his eyes, bracing himself but when he opened them again nothing had changed

"You've already been.." Budh looked away in guilt "One month as your male body and one as female" they blurted "You wouldn't remember the memories of what you spent time in the other gender's body. I saw you for the first time that day and tried to warn you, prince. But you had already entered."

Sudyumna bit his lower lip. He looked at the sky now and closed his eyes, feeling the wind which made his curls fly against his face

He was so beautiful Budh thought. His curls and smile were an unimaginable contrast to Budh's dull life so far, something that had altered their path forever. Sudyumna's golden ray gently radiating upon Budh's heart's foliage, Sudyumna's throne covered in Budh's moss. Sudyumna's moon full of Budh's craters and Sudyumna's purpose filled with Budh's devotion. Destinies intertwined, orbiting each other

"I trust you" he said, finally opening his eyes, his gaze falling upon Budh "As a.. I mean, when I'm a woman you will not leave me, right? You will be there with me, Budh?"

With you? I've always been because of you

"Make me remember us" Ila's voice sweetly kissed Budh's ears

Only if I could

"Of course I will be there with you" they replied

Sudyumna smiled

Months after months this went on. Sudyumna then Ila and Sudyumna and again

Budh was there always, telling Ila stories of what she did as Sudyumna and she'd always be grinning ear to ear, enjoying hearing her life as a charming prince from her lover. But Budh just couldn't do the vice versa. They were so afraid that Sudyumna would feel betrayed if he came to know about it. No, Budh couldn't do that. They'd lose Sudyumna forever

But they were also miserable to hide it all from him

Because after all, it was the same person

It felt like running away from an important side of their lover which they needed to be honest with if they loved truly

"I somehow feel empty, Budh" Ila whispered as she lay on her lover's chest "Not because of you. It's like I'm missing something important. It's- wait" she got up "You haven't confessed to my male version Sudyumna yet? Does he know?"

Budh fell silent

Ila understood what they were going through. She held their face tenderly and said nothing, tears freely flowing down both their cheeks

One day when the soul was in Sudyumna's body, he broke down in Budh's arms

"I don't remember a thing from when I'm a woman! It's.. it's so scary, Budh. And you also evade most of the details when I ask you what I'm like as a woman. Why? I feel emptiness as if I'd never be able to find a crucial part of me."

Budh felt like screaming. They wanted to wail and reveal everything but they already felt like a sinner for keeping it from him for so long

Sudyumna cried and cried

After a few days, he came to Budh again "I know what I have to do" he declared firmly "Shravana is designed by Shiva, isn't it? I will devote the rest of my life to him until he restores my masculine nature back permanently."

Budh stood at their place, frozen

Ila would be gone away forever and with her, the memories of Budh would too

Here and

There

Found and

Lost

They turned their face away, sobbing silently

Budh had kept their lover to themselves for too long

They had to let go now

"I shall pray that you succeed in your endeavour, prince" they whispered, wiping their tears away hurriedly and turning back to face Sudyumna

Sudyumna knelt at Budh's feet and held their hands

"Thank you, Budh. For everything"

Budh smiled

Sudyumna was in the midst of the most intense tapasya of Mahadev. He had gone far away from his kingdom, his privilege, and sat on the rock

Up in Kailasha, Parvati kept a hand on her husband's shoulder and said

"You should go bless him now, swami"

"And take back Shravana's power upon him? But it was your idea, priye"

"And I'm the one requesting you, now. Please go to this boy who has touched my heart with your devotion"

"Open your eyes"

Sudyumna did and bowed to the almighty Mahadev, sighing at finally reaping the fruit of his karma

"I know what you desire, Sudyumna and I shall grant it to you but-"

"But what, Mahadev!?" Sudyumna clenched his chest in worry

"But what about your lover?" Shiva smiled mysteriously

"WHAT?"

But before he could further say anything, Shiva held his palm out to give Sudyumna his boon.

Sudyumna gasped as all his memories as Ila came flooding back to him as well

"BUDH!" he called out desperately, running now "BUDH!"

Budh opened their eyes from slumber. Were they imagining things again? Sudyumna has been haunting them since he left. Just falling asleep had been difficult because when they close their eyes, all they could see was Sudyumna/Ila. But now that they had finally managed to go to sleep, that bittersweet voice had come to haunt them again

"BUUUUDHHH!"

"SUDYUMNA?"

Sudyumna tackled Budh in a fierce hug, making them go toppling down on the grass together

Sudyumna kissed all Budh's face and parted a little to get a clear look of his lover

"I told you to make me remember, you idiot!" he whispered curses and started crying at seeing Budh's eyes softening in the yearning they had been through all this while

"Never do this ever again or I will hunt YOU DOWN" Sudyumna embraced him tightly again "Promise?"

"I do" Budh smiled

[gold-dust-angel]

Good to see this trending even though I have no idea why suddenly today but—

A historic debate on marriage equality and legalising same-sex marriage is underway in the Supreme Court of India. The Union govt. is against it of course but the SC judges and the lawyers representing the petitioners are very progressive. The recordings of the live hearings are up on youtube and worth watching because the arguments in favor are just ✨chef's kiss✨ The verdict is yet to be out but I'm really hopeful. Anxious but hopeful. So far the CJI's statements point to a positive outcome for the queer community but let's wait and watch. It's gonna be epic🌈

[emma-dennehy-presents]

I love you so fucking much Bloodywood. First time with this song (wild to see Kerr as a ft. he is so much of yalls sound to me) but I wish I could have been on the proverbial bandwagon earlier. Looking through the comments and talking to fans this songs means so much to so many. I think its in the same way or similar to what Aaj means to me as a personal anthem as a trans person. All my love to India's queer community, Im so happy to have heard from so many of you on other platforms ^3^ your legislator might not be making progress but your judiciary absolutely is. We are rooting for yall and you deserve all the love you have shown me.