Are Indian Bars And Restaurants Inclusive Of LGBTQ+ Communities? Read To Know More
“We do let straight people know that they’re most welcome,” Anand Puri laughs on a sweltering afternoon in June, just as we get talking a few days before the second anniversary of his Karaoke Thursdays event at Tavern-Behind-Trincas in Kolkata. The month of June – dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ+ communities worldwide, also commemorates the lives lost during the Stonewall riots of 1969, in the United States of America. In present day India, finding spaces that can be safe and inclusive for queer individuals continues to be a gamble – although conditions have improved a fair amount since the 90’s – where restaurants and bars discreetly accommodated cis-gendered individuals – in fashion designer and stylist Aditya Mohnot’s experience.
On Evolution Of Queer-Friendly Hospitality Spaces
Aditya, who has been championing queer rights and visibility through his endeavours in creating awareness on how members of the community must be treated sensitively, continues to remain actively involved in educating people from various walks about creating safe spaces across the board. He was also part of the organisational committee of the first ever pride walk that the country witnessed in Kolkata back in 1999 (the oldest pride of South Asia). His early memories of visiting bars in 1997-98 meant that his privilege of not appearing to be obviously queer worked to his advantage. “My sexuality was not a hindrance as such but these spaces weren’t as trans-friendly,” he points. According to him, by the time the 2000s rolled in, bars evolved to accommodate homosexual men – although continuing to remain resistant to trans people inhabiting them; a phenomenon which gave rise to what was popularly known as ‘Pink Parties’ – a brainchild of Navonil Das, one half of the designer duo Dev R Nil.
Fresh off the boat from getting a degree in Australia, Navonil was candid about organising these parties out of his own need to find places where he could mingle with like-minded people. “I studied fashion, came back with my design partner and realised that there wasn’t much of a scene in the city despite the community being quite active. A few of us friends would go visit places based off of what we would hear from the grapevine – it would be five or six people – and eventually other people joined in,” he says. What became a catalyst for him to take the lead on planning queer-friendly events was when one of his trans friends was stopped from entering a venue – an incident that took Das by surprise, given that his group of friends brought in as much business as an average group of heterosexual patrons. Rounding up a few people, he went on to create a page on social media, following which an initial sign up of 50-60 LGBTQ+ individuals made way for the first ever Pink Party at The Park Hotel.
Business Challenges
On the other hand, Mumbai-based, gender-fluid drag performer Zeeshan Ali – popularly known by her stage name ‘Zeesh’ – reminisces that her first experience of queer clubs date back to 2012 in Bangalore, where cross-dressing was vehemently prohibited. “Clubs were not ready to give spaces to queer people and if they were, it was hush-hush and you weren’t allowed to dress as you liked. Barring the exception of Halloween, when I first dressed up in an early version of my drag in 2012-13 and performed, I only began performing officially in 2018 after Section 377 was pulled down,” she quips. Zeesh, who was one of the first few drag performers to emerge on the LGBTQ+ scene and rose to fame, received her first big break from Keshav Suri – who invited her to perform at the Kitty Su nightclub.
According to her, acceptance is still in its nascent stage due to the comfort masses find in consuming palatable concepts, artists and ideologies. “An extremely feminine drag artist would be celebrated far more than someone who doesn’t associate with or are beyond that form of artistry – something we still struggle with. The ideology is still connected to the binary even in the queer community – more so when it comes to club owners and spaces where only a certain form of drag is understood,” she says. Zeesh adds that there have been instances when she has had to water down the version of the drag she does, based on what a room can digest. She finds herself navigating these challenges in order to continue making a living and mentions that, “There are no spaces that have artists performing on a regular basis unless you are someone who has achieved a mainstream standard because of having an industry influence or an affluent background. Right now, during pride month, drag artists aren’t being booked as frequently due to venues not generating as much revenue.”
Image Credits: Kitty Su
However, Anand Puri – third-generation owner of Tavern-Behind-Trincas believes that business must be a long-term goal when it comes to cultivating queer-friendly spaces in India. “The community spreads outwards,” he adds. “By hosting a karaoke night at the venue, I’m introducing people to a whole new space, letting the staff know to not discriminate against the people coming in – which improves how they react at the main restaurant (Trincas). You might also see a spillover effect when a younger generation who may not necessarily be queer, observes that the space is accepting.” Anand – who organised the first karaoke night event at Tavern-Behind-Trincas with the help of Navonil’s Kolkata Pride – credits his staff greatly in absorbing the knock-on effect of having an awareness and in being sensitive towards all patrons equally. What this led to was for Anand to introduce two other sub-cultures into the space – one that is spearheaded by the hip hop community in the city and a second, where live Bengali music performances regale visitors – all of which adds to the visibility of the venue.
“I want to take this forward and create a legacy of promoting sub-cultures that pays off in the long run. This is something that is the start of something else. These are seeds we’re putting in now, while you can see some fruit already, it goes further,” Anand affirms. He adds that shifting his perspective on the business angle and pursuing sub-cultures which plug into one another – helped nurture the one that draws in customers that can pay for an experience – thus bringing balance to the ones that are still finding their ground. What this does for him is that promoting various communities gives the venue an edge over his contemporaries while also preserving the essence of it being associated with the LGBTQ+ community in a favourable manner.
Anand credits Karaoke Thursdays for giving him the courage to fit in other attitudes that opened up a whole slew of options that could be explored. Despite being an extension of the main space, he observed that the clientele was getting old – a lot of whom stopped stepping out post-pandemic and most importantly that the younger generation was beginning to forget the existence of such a place. “If you want to refresh a space, if you want to bring memorability to an experience, have recall value and have something that grows over time – this is it. It’s not a quick buck,” Anand says. He believes that there’s always room for more spaces to remain associated long-term with the community. “Because the LGBTQ+ community is so fragmented and are lumped together, if you go into niches in larger cities, the success and business events may attract, might take a while.” Anand makes a strong case when he says that not everyone from the community who goes out wants to be ‘seen’ – more so if the category they fall into is nuanced, while also raising concerns about whether or not the people they want to meet are present in the same space.
Bars/Clubs Of The Future
According to Aditya, there is no space which is overtly queer-friendly. Managements at venues might extend their allyship without making it explicit that they’re willing to host LGBTQ+ people, with the exception of a handful. Staff sensitisation towards how individuals identify themselves, behave or how they dress is only a recent occurrence. “Nobody bats an eyelid if two men are sitting close or touching each other. To a great extent even today, stags are not allowed into clubs,” he says. He believes that economic divisions play a crucial role for queer individuals with regards to accessing social spaces; affluent restaurants and bars do not concern themselves with the orientation of the people who walk in, unlike dive bars that are relatively more accessible to the masses.
Aditya adds that with technological advancement, apps became the epicentre of activity for queer people – where in-person meetings were far and few in-between; private parties picked up steam until prominent individuals volunteered to take on roles that brought large groups of people under one roof. “The biggest issue is social stigma because a lot of bars today are unsure about how that might affect their business – in case they put out a pride flag at the entrance, which might drive away their non-queer customers. They might open their doors to queer people but the apprehension of being labelled an LGBTQ+ space could drive away straight people – especially men,” he says. Spaces that are queer-friendly are far more relaxed and warmer as well as relaxed about their rules, and essentially run by younger people from outside the community – something that Aditya thinks has evolved with time.
Image Credits: Tavern-Behind-Trincas
From his experience of regrouping queer people across multiple events over the years, Navonil says that the community wants something beyond just a party scene with shiny lights and loud music. Experiences that are relatively not as high octane have been drawing in a crowd consistently – no matter what the obstacles. “Smaller spaces have helped in bringing the community together and hold fort; bigger ones feel the need to open themselves up to a straight crowd because of the numbers they must clock but I’ve realised that it is important for having dedicated square spaces that should remain queer – as a way to provide respite for the years of struggle we’ve faced. It becomes unfair if those spaces are not exclusive to us because we also want to feel safe,” he asserts. People from all walks of life – visibly trans, visibly different in the sense that they’re not straight appearing or conforming to heteronormative standards, wearing what they feel most comfortable in – having access to such opportunities is something that Navonil thinks must grow with time.
Talking about what the next phase of queer-friendly spaces looks like in India, Zeesh shares that drag artists are beginning to create their own performance spaces instead of relying on currently existent venues – as a way to showcase their concepts and craft. “As much as we want to run away from societal norms, we’re inbound and shackled by it. Artists who do not conform to those ideologies have to find ways to sustain themselves; similarly, my drag was never about femininity, it has always been about gender beyond the binary. I have been smart enough to leverage my own brand in these spaces who thought about their business and not about me. Essentially, they leveraged off of us instead of it being the other way round,” she mentions. Solidarity and support was an ‘it’ thing even as recently as six years ago, Zeesh believes, because of which venues came forward to accommodate queer people. “Yes, they were helpful, generous and kind, but they had a purpose and reason to do so,” she says. “At the end of the day, if venues are making money, they will hire more artists and make more space. It’s not about the culture, it’s about the money. Right now, the pullback that is happening because of the (political) climate we’re in is followed by an interesting shift where events are being curated and directed towards singular identities and perceptions that are connecting people with one another.”
Also Read: Celebrate Pride Month By Paying A Visit To These 6 LGBTQ+ Friendly Bars Across India
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