Creating Safe and Affirmative Spaces: Gaysi Family's Collaboration with Tinder India
Tejaswi Subramanian, Gaysi Digital Editor talks about inspiration behind the collaboration with Tinder on the Queer Made Weekend. Gaysi Family, a media platform and safe space for queer desis, has been a platform for sharing stories and experiences of the LGBTQIA+ community across South Asia. The Queer Made Weekend is an extension of their mission, which aims to elevate queer-owned businesses and artists. Here, Tejaswi shares insights on the event's impact, highlights, and future aspirations.
What inspired you to collaborate with Tinder on Queer Made Weekend, and how does this event align with The Gaysi Family's mission?
Gaysi Family has been collaborating with Tinder India for a while now on various projects addressing the LGBTQIA+ community in India. In 2020, during the pandemic-induced lockdowns, several queer folx were affected and had begun small online-based businesses to make ends meet. As part of its Pride Month activation, Tinder India collaborated with Gaysi Family to launch Queer Made, an online marketplace made up of small queer-owned businesses and creators. It was platformed by Little Black Book, and all logistics related to the online marketplace were taken care of by Tinder India. Gaysi Family’s own social media was used to promote the businesses. As lockdowns lifted, the collaboration continued and the first Queer Made Weekend was hosted in Delhi, and Gaysi Family once again curated the businesses and creators for the stalls at the event, which were offered to them for free of cost. Alongside the stalls, Gaysi also curated the performances at this weekend market; the lineup was also a way to platform queer artists – singers, DJs, drag performers, and more.
How has the response been to the event in previous years, and what was the response for this year's edition in Delhi?
The response has been fantastic and since 2022, the event has been hosted at Delhi as well Mumbai, due to it being very well-received. It has also allowed more queer businesses and creators to get a spot at the event in a different city. It is a great way for queer folx and allies alike to come together. And the event saw a footfall upwards of 20K over 3 days across 2 cities.
Can you share some highlights from past Queer Made Weekend events, and highlights from this year?
As always we had a fantastic lineup of artists like Kofi Kofi and her dancers, who left the audience spellbound, Suman Sridhar and her band, whose jazzy vocals left everybody wanting more – they finally came back for an encore! Rani Ko-HE-Nur and her band brought an energy to the amphitheatre that left us spellbound. These are, of course, some of the more popular names. There were also newer artists like Aanchal Shrivastava, Nishtha Sood, Ishmeet & Arlo, Sagar Verma & the Daisies, Kali Billi Productions, and Tejnesss – all queer and indie talent to watch out for and support.
How do you see events like Queer Made Weekend contributing to the growth and visibility of India's LGBTQIA+ community?
Public platforms for queer businesses and artists are far and few between. However, with Pride month activations by brands like Tinder’s Queer Made Weekend, there is a concentrated effort to invest in them and bring them to spaces that may have earlier been sites of discrimination and alienation for queer folx. It allows queer creators and entrepreneurs to interact with new and potential customers, and put themselves out there. That’s encouraging for any one in the early stages of starting a business. We also pull out all stops to ensure that the space is queer affirmative and address discrimination of any kind at the event to ensure that people feel safe.
What does the term "Queer Made" mean to you, and how does it reflect the spirit of this event?
You know how anything tagged ‘homemade’ tugs at people’s heartstrings? Similarly, Queer Made is our way of taking Pride in our identity and the talent that the community has, that has also been invisibilized for several decades as a result of pervasive queerphobia and discrimination.
How do you envision Queer Made Weekend evolving in the future, and what are your long-term goals for the event?
We’d love to take it to more cities, and make it even more accessible to people from all regions of the country. There’s plenty to be done and so many more promising queer artists and performers to be platformed and amplified. We’re here to stay!
What message do you hope attendees take away from Queer Made Weekend, and how can they continue to support the LGBTQIA+ community beyond the event?
The message is to see us as people, both for our identities as well as beyond the labels and stereotypes pinned on the people in our community. And to keep showing up to support the endeavours of queer folx – creative, business, advocacy, and otherwise. Stay invested in the queer community’s movement for justice and rights, and understand how systemic exclusion impacts us. The community is not a monolith either. There are intersections of caste, disability, gender, race, class, language, and so much else, and the politics of the movement is nuanced – take the time to stay engaged and learn about it. We’re sure you’ll benefit as well from our ideas about gender norms, bodily autonomy, relationships, and more.
