Love, identity and reckoning: Being queer and in love in Allahabad

“I got sick of the intense pressure to get married and finally told my mother that I have no interest in girls. You know what her retort was? ‘Why? Do you like boys then?’” <br /><br />Deepak chuckles as he remembers how his courage failed him when he almost told his mother he was queer. But this self-acceptance was a long time in the making, growing up as he did in Jagatpur, a small village in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. <br /><br />What really helped him understand himself better was the Allahabad-based Resistive Alliance for Queer Solidarity, or RAQS, an artist-activist organisation that works with the #LGBTQ community on issues like #gender, #sexuality, and #mentalhealth. <br /><br />A #ValentineDay special dispatch from the city of the #Kumbh.<br /><br />Read the full article: https://www.newslaundry.com/2020/02/14/love-identity-and-reckoning-being-queer-and-in-love-in-allahabad<br /><br />Support independent media and subscribe to Newslaundry: http://bit.ly/paytokeepnewsfree<br /><br />Join our YouTube membership program: http://bit.ly/NLYouTubeMembership<br /><br />To watch this and many more videos, click on http://www.newslaundry.com/<br /><br />Follow and engage with us on social media:<br />Facebook: https://facebook.com/newslaundry<br />Twitter: https://twitter.com/newslaundry<br />Instagram: https://instagram.com/newslaundry