Queer Nilayam is creating spaces for friendship and crisis support in Bengaluru

While living in Hyderabad, Jayant, aka Jojo, realised that though the city had many cultural events for queer people, there was no space to simply meet, connect and support one another in everyday life. In 2021, amid the pandemic, he and four friends started monthly online gatherings, which later grew into in-person meetups.

In 2025, Jayant, a documentation manager, moved to Bengaluru, bringing the initiative, Queer Nilayam, with him. Its activities include monthly support meetings with a counsellor, listening circles, and speed-friendship and speed-dating events. It organises flea markets, performances, health awareness programmes, and a queer arts and literature festival. It also hosts corporate carnivals connecting companies with performers and vendors from the queer community.

Queer Nilayam welcomes anyone who reaches out directly, but its volunteers also proactively connect with members of the community and introduce them to support networks. Political discussions are usually kept aside during regular meetings, but are later given space in moderated settings. The collective also helps channel financial support for medical needs such as hormone replacement therapy, provides legal referrals, assists in rescuing queer people in distress, and connects them with safe shelters. It has worked closely with the Coalition for Sex Workers’, Sexual and Gender Minority Rights and has supported Dalit queer persons through training, helping them engage with the police and media, and organise protests.

Jayant was apprehensive about shifting Queer Nilayam’s base from Hyderabad to Bengaluru, as the community there valued these meetups. “But my partner convinced me, saying the community will follow,” he recalls.

The first five months passed without any meetup. But cut to present — Queer Nilayam has reached around 2,300 people in Bengaluru, and supported 4,453 people across Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

To connect, visit @queernilayam on Instagram.