User:Ilovemitski/sandbox

Dear person who is reviewing my drafts:

'''I'm editing the page "LGBT culture in India". I plan on adding a section about the influence of social media on strengthening the LGBTQ+ movement in urban India post article 377. I will take a look at how social media allows communities to build safe spaces online and build a sense of unity as well as a space for discussion. The bits in bold are all additions made by me. I added a short paragraph to the introduction and also created a new sub-section called "Social Media and Safe Spaces" in the Media Representation section.'''

Cool, hope you have fun !

Kaamya

= LGBT culture in India = India's Supreme Court on 6 September 2018, struck down a colonial-era law that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a landmark victory for gay rights that one judge said would "pave the way for a better future." Time Out (Delhi) has a dedicated column covering gay events in Delhi every week. LGBT people have increased access to health services and social events.

- more about how the laws changed, propose new sections and leave them blank: something about controversy

- blend the internet/virtual media section/make two different sections

- talk about who svati p shah is/give a better introduction to the section and the scholars

'LGBTQ+ stories coming out of India tend to focus on the hijra'' community despite the fact that they themselves are only a small segment of the trans community in India. Indeed, India has decriminalized gay sex but the country is yet to see an era in which all love is legal. The LGBTQ+ community continues to fight for rights to marriage, adoption, inheritance, property and social inclusion. Nonetheless, queer visibility, especially in urban centers and in popular media, has increased significantly in the past decade.'''

Virtual Media and Safe Spaces
'''Urban centers are important hubs of the LGBTQ+ movement (cite Shah). The community has gained visibility since the 1970s. Since the early 2000s, social media and online venues have played a critical role in strengthening LGBTQ+ communities and identities. '''

'''The internet allows for an opening up of interactions between people, and represents the destabilization of the public and the private. It has created numerous new spaces for social interaction and community formation. The rapid growth of users on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, has contributed to the development of pages such as "Gaysifamily", "nazariyalgbt", and "lgbthistoryindia". Each of these pages seeks to increase queer awareness and visibility in India to those who have access to the pages. "Gaysifamily" in particular describes the reasons for their starting as "to provide a voice and a safe space to Desis from the South Asian subcontinent that identify as LGBTQ+". They sell and share stickers, artwork, personal stories and zines made by queer Desis.'''

'''Rohit K. Dasgupta also does some critical work researching the importance of digital platforms in developing intimacies and relationships between gay men in India. In his book "Digital Queer Cultures in India: Politics, Intimacy, and Belonging", he notes that virtual platforms such as Grindr and PlanetRomeo are integral to creating private yet public spaces for gay men to be "out", and find partners for both hook ups and relationships. He is not blind to the classed nature of the ability to use and participate in such applications. It seems that these spaces are more easily accessed by the rising Indian middle class and elite.'''

Khush-list, the first mailing list for LGBT South Asians, predominantly Indians in metropolitan cities and those living abroad, was established in 1993. In 1999, LGBT-India was established on egroups, and later transitioned to yahoogroups. Such mailing lists, established well before the advent of social networking sites, continue to remain the mainstay for discussion among middle-class, English-speaking Indians, and include LGBT-India, GayBombay, Good As You (Bangalore), Pratibimb (Hyderabad), and Movenpick/Orinam (Chennai). GayBombay.org (established in late 1998) and Orinam.net (established in 2006) are among the oldest websites that function as online resources catering to a local (Mumbai and Chennai, respectively) and national readership. Dating websites provide an alternative way for meeting people; online communities also offer a safe and convenient environment for meeting gays in India. Online magazines like Pink Pages and Gaylaxy also publish regular issues. On 11 September 2013, India's first Queer Radio channel, Qradio - Out and Proud, completely dedicated to LGBT audience was launched. With variety of talk shows, music, debates etc., the channel now runs 24 hours a day

In February 2014, Wonderful Things Happen was founded with the objective to serve the Indian lesbian/bi women community.