JOIN USA group of Delhi University students on Wednesday organised a performing arts event challenging gender stereotypes, ahead of the Delhi Queer Pride parade later this month.
“We usually don’t have such events on campus. The idea was to keep things spontaneous and provide a safe, non-judgmental and cozy place for people to talk about issues of sexuality, identity and queer pride,” said Rafiul Rahman, a member of the DU queer collective, the event organisers.
On Wednesday afternoon, many students gathered in the Department of Sociology to celebrate the colourful spirit of Delhi Queer Pride. “I had what you would call a very non-normal childhood, but this song always made me feel better,” said Pankaj, a second-year DU students, before crooning Demi Lovato’s Skyscraper.
From the upcoming Salman Khan flick’s twisted view of family in ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Paio’ to asexuality, the ‘Queer Open Mic’ session saw students taking the stage and expressing themselves on host of issues through comedy, music and slam poetry.
“My poem is about the silencing we face for idntities we carry, where society asks you to choose one identity or another, when you are told to settle into safe spaces, no matter how unfit they are for you,” Dhiren Borisa, from the JNU queer group Dhanak told the audience.
Ahead of the Delhi Queer Pride march on November 29, the group is planning to organize a panel discussion on the topic ‘When the Other Speaks’.
“I hope we were successful in our attempt to create a safe space for LGBTQ folks and allies on campus to perform, to gather as a community, to mobilise and to imagine 377 ways towards building a safe, inclusive and pluralistic future,” Rehman said after the event. “The group managed to get people through a Facebook page and posters put up at select places on the campus.”
The event also saw Vasu Primlani, a renowned stand-up comedian taking the stage to talk about a host of issues, including Article 377.
“Do you know about 377? I don’t like breaking rules, be it here or anywhere, but this one rule I can be happy breaking and also getting an orgasm out of it,” Primlani said, as she tackled topics related to gender equality and queerness in her jokes.