InfoAnda - India's 1st gay magazine relaunches after 7 years

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Growth in Asia to drop as global slowdown bites: ADB | 11 December 2008
Sudan-held Vitol oil tankers freed: industry source | | 30 January 2012
Microsoft boosts dividend 25 percent | | 21 September 2011

Poll: Three-Term Sen. Barbara Boxer Vulnerable In November | 19 March 2010

">Forum Views () ">Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : India's 1st gay magazine relaunches after 7 years

Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Asia Pacific World Search Search: India's 1st gay magazine relaunches after 7 years AFP - Saturday, May 16 MUMBAI (AFP) - - Nitin Karani didn't know it at the time but in 2002 he co-edited the last edition of India's first gay magazine. ADVERTISEMENT Twelve years after the groundbreaking "Bombay Dost" (Bombay Friends) first hit the streets and despite selling some 5,000 copies every quarter, lack of funding and advertising revenue forced it to close. But last month, the first edition of the new "Bombay Dost" was launched at a Mumbai bookstore, with funding from a local men's sexual health charity and the UN Development Programme as well as star backing from a Bollywood actress. For Karani, the magazine's mission remains the same -- to help give India's marginalised gay community its own voice and be more accepted by society. "The most important thing about the magazine was in the case of people like me," he told AFP ahead of Sunday's International Day Against Homophobia. "It made me realise I wasn't the only 'freak' around and not isolated, that there are lots of other people like me, not just in India but abroad, and I could reach out to them and interact with them. "It gave me a tremendous sense of validity." "Bombay Dost," originally set up by the gay rights activist Ashok Row Kavi, seems tame in comparison with its mainstream US or European counterparts. Where Britain's "Attitude" features pictures of near-naked models and celebrities and sells in the tens of thousands, "Bombay Dost" has only one shot of "Mr Gay India" in swimming trunks and an initial print run of 1,500. Most of its glossy 56 pages are instead taken up with lengthy book and art reviews and features on gay issues both in India and abroad. But in a country which is still largely conservative and either ignores homosexuality, denies it exists or treats it as a disease, the magazine can justly claim its tagline of being "bolder than ever." In the seven years between publications, Karani said much had changed, even if a British colonial-era law banning unnatural sex "against the order of nature" is still on the statute books. The original "Bombay Dost" was not even sold in bookstores and would either come in a plain, brown envelope or under the counter at roadside vendors. "People would have been afraid to walk into a store and ask for it in the same way they wouldn't walk into a chemist and ask for a condom. It was basically still contraband," Karani explained. The now half-yearly "Bombay Dost" is still available via mail order or from gay-friendly NGOs but is also sold in a number of large bookstore chains. Karani said his parents and colleagues in his day job at a large financial services firm know he is gay and are supportive. Being gay is now more acceptable in certain jobs such as journalism, at call centres or in the entertainment or fashion industries and younger people are more accepting, he added. The 38-year-old attributes that change in part to globalisation as well as the explosion in India's cable and satellite television sector, which brought among other things chat shows discussing homosexuality more openly. Indian editions of the "Time Out" lifestyle and entertainment magazine now have regular gay listings sections and columns, while numbers at the annual Pride march, first held in Kolkata with just 14 men in 1999, are growing. Prejudice still remains, though, whether it is through blackmail of closeted homosexuals or persecution of groups such as India's sizeable transgendered "hijra" community. Editor Vikram Phukan writes in the magazine that that there remains fear of being associated with a lifestyle that is still effectively underground and where homosexual sex remains illegal. Former Miss India turned Bollywood actress Celina Jaitley, one of India's most outspoken campaigners for gay rights, received hate mail for supporting the relaunch of "Bombay Dost." The 27-year-old said she was saddened by the reaction but is undeterred, hoping that publications such as "Bombay Dost" will help break down barriers. "We have to accept differences rather than be afraid of them," she told AFP. "We've got to talk about it. Bring the change within yourself, accept the first person you come across with love." Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Sign in to recommend this article » 0 users recommend Related Articles: Entertainment & Lifestyle Norway sweeps Eurovision Song ContestAFP - Sunday, May 17 Australian Tsiolkas wins Commonwealth writers prizeAFP - Sunday, May 17 Glam icons Bellucci, Marceau morph in weird fantasy thrillerAFP - Sunday, May 17 Ang Lee brings 'peace and love' to CannesAFP - Sunday, May 17 Coming-of-age ghetto tale 'Precious' triumphs at CannesAFP - Saturday, May 16 Most Popular – Entertainment Viewed Popular cereal is a drug, US food watchdog says Coral Triangle could die by century's end: WWF British store admits it boobed in bra row Australian zoo evacuated after orangutan escape EU fines Intel record 1.06 billion euros View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - Community - Intellectual Property Rights Policy - Help

Other News on Sunday, 17 May 2009
Suspected drug gang frees 59 from Mexico prison | International |
Kuwaiti polls close but voters doubt crisis will end | International |
Sudan accuses Chad of third air strike | International |
Hospital Where 'Octomom' Gave Birth Fined $250,000
Burglars Caught On Surveillance Video Trying To Break Into Lindsay Lohan's Home
Networks Prepare to Unveil Schedules
Coldplay Offer New Live Album As Free Download
Rob Lowe's Nannygate Officially Over, Settles Lawsuit With Second Nanny
Ticketmaster Admits To Overselling Bruce Spingsteen's Washington Show
Girls Aloud Singer Cheryl Cole's Brother Spared From Jail For Attacking A Man
Actor Vinnie Jones On Trial For Bar Brawl
Producer Sues Ryan O'Neal Over Farrah Fawcett's TV Documentary
Gerard Butler Charged With Hitting A Paparazzo
Suspected drug gang frees 53 from Mexico prison | International |
South Korea tries recharging road to power vehicles | Technology |
Pamuk may face new trial for Armenia remarks | Entertainment |
Wheel Falls Off Plane As It Lands In Buffalo
40 Children Stun Gunned While Vistiting Florida Prisons
Inmate Gets 60 More Years After Caught With Cell Phone
DA Pest Control To Make Fire Ants Headless Using Flies
"Twilight" Star Says Vampire-Crazed Fans Are "Gross"
Medvedev stresses concern on NATO moves near Russia
Second British MP suspended over expense claims
Moscow police arrest 40 at Eurovision gay protest
Russia warns of clampdown on Eurovision gay protest
Cool Britannia? Brits are angriest Europeans: poll
Germany reports record quarterly slump
Swine flu cases soar again as more countries hit
Japan's opposition party elects new chief
Troops take last Tiger coastline: SLanka military
Congress sweeps to victory in India election
Eight Japan school students positive for swine flu
Sri Lanka president declares Tamil Tigers 'defeated'
NKorea scraps contracts with SKorean firms in joint zone
Myanmar under pressure to free Aung San Suu Kyi
Yudhoyono names Indonesian bank chief for VP
China to focus on energy efficiency post-Kyoto: state media
New Web tool WolframAlpha launches test run
Tucson Citizen to print final edition Saturday
Facebook users hooked in new 'phishing' scam
US has new Mideast peace plan: Jordan king
Egypt opens Gaza border
Commerzbank shareholders approve government stake
EBRD seeks to guide ex-Soviet bloc to economic recovery
Rocket hits Afghan mosque, five killed: police
US astronauts, on third spacewalk, repair Hubble
Suspected US drone in Pakistan kills militants
Job losses as GM, Chrysler close dealerships
GM, union at odds as bankruptcy deadline looms
Three NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Swine flu set to spread, reported cases surge: WHO
Pope ends Holy Land trip with call for two-state solution
US insurer Ameriprise rejects Treasury bailout offer
GM aims to shrink dealer network by 40 percent
Recession storm sinks Europe
US consumer prices flat in April
CIA denies it deceived Congress on interrogations
Hubble gets new gyroscopes in space fix-it struggle
Obama retains Bush-era military tribunals
World needs fair and just financial system: China's Wu
Philippines failed to scrap loss-making firms: ADB
Pakistani cenbank buys 50.03 bln rupees of bills
India's Jet Airways says may cut jobs to trim losses
India's Bharti Airtel sees 100-million mobile subscribers
Microsoft teams with Chinese city to fight piracy
Mitsubishi UFJ cancels plan to buy Citigroup unit
IMF to approve $840 mln for Pakistan in June-govt official
Australian Tsiolkas wins Commonwealth writers prize
Glam icons Bellucci, Marceau morph in weird fantasy thriller
Dubai's 7-star hotel escapes crisis discounting
Ang Lee brings 'peace and love' to Cannes
Pain, progress on global day against homophobia
Beauty plays the beast in lingerie football
India's 1st gay magazine relaunches after 7 years
Guggenheim opens major Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit
Scorsese brings classic treat for Cannes afficionados
Sri Lanka's long war in bloody final climax | International |
Moscow police arrest 40 at Eurovision gay protest
India's Congress to pick allies after election win | International |
Myanmar's Suu Kyi defiant ahead of trial: lawyer | International |
Pakistani army closes in on Taliban stronghold in Swat | International |
China keeps buying US bonds despite concerns
Asian carriers brace for more rough weather
Nureyev myth celebrated with exhibition
Saudi women pioneers brave clerics with ball games
African-American director takes Harlem to Cannes
'Looking for Eric': the return of Cantona as actor
Norway sweeps Eurovision Song Contest
Chinese tourists avoiding France because of Sarkozy: official
Croatia's bar owners protest anti-smoking law
Obama taps Republican governor as China envoy
US astronauts equip Hubble on third spacewalk
US uptick doesn't mean crisis is over: top US economist
Pakistan urges civilians to flee from Swat | International |
Outnumbered U.S. troops defend Afghan frontier | International |
Kuwait women enter parliament, deadlock may not end | International |
Militants take key Somali town, warlord defects | International |
First Darfur rebel to appear before Hague court: ICC | International |
Thousands of Turks march in anti-government protest | International |
Myanmar's Suu Kyi defiant ahead of trial: lawyer | International |
Damaged EU-Russia ties bode ill for summit | International |
Obama to visit Catholic university
Astronauts to take fourth walk to repair Hubble
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers admit defeat
Japan confirms 32 new swine flu cases, total at 44
Sri Lankan rebels say they have put down arms
Japan officials promote hip home
Intense battles as Pakistan troops move on Taliban
Australian PM defends ministers' travel bill
Taiwan opposition protests Ma's China policies
Myanmar frees Aung San Suu Kyi doctor: family
Japan's new opposition chief now eyes PM's job
Study finds tall people at top of wages ladder
China to push investment in Taiwan: report
SKorean consortium wins airport deal in Britain
Recovery talk runs on despite rearview recession
China electricity use down in April: report
South Korea April import prices fall, first in 2 yrs
Rock star, fisherman bid for Lebanon election race
Ben Stiller stars at Smithsonian in Museum sequel | Entertainment |
US Pokemon lovers to challenge Europe and Japan
Johnny Hallyday seeks Vengeance in Cannes | Entertainment |
Crisis bad news for Russia's shrinking population
Africans tell their own stories at NY film festival | Entertainment |
Splat, you're dead: German paintballers fight back
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01