A Russian singer has been jailed under the country’s LGBTQ+ propaganda laws after performing a show wearing nothing but a sock on his genitals.
On Monday night (8 January), Maxim Tesli, front man of Shchenki (The Puppies), was detained at a St Petersburg airport.
It has been reported by Russian media that he was planning to leave Russia amid growing calls for his arrests, following a video of his performance going viral.
In November, Russia’s supreme court effectively outlawed LGBTQ+ activism by branding the “international public LGBT movement” – which does not actually exist – “extremists”.
Tesli’s arrest follows rapper Nikolai Vasilyev being jailed for doing the same thing at a party just weeks before, Reuters reported.
Vasilyev, known as Vacio, was jailed for 15 days and fined 200,000 roubles ($2,211; £1,739) for propaganda of “non-traditional sexual relations” after also using a sock to hide his genitals at an “Almost Naked” party at a Moscow nightclub.
It is not known if Tesli’s stunt was in support of Vacio.
Following his 15-day sentence, Vacio was arrested again on hooliganism charges and sentenced to a further 10 days in detention, The Moscow Times reported.
Human rights groups in Russia and beyond have condemned the “gay propaganda laws”, with Igor Kochetkov, the head of the Russian LGBT Network, saying the legislation means that queer activism will effectively be impossible in the future.
Russia has also implemented laws banning gender-affirming procedures for trans people and prohibits what it described as “medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person”.
A Norwegian man who called himself “The Eunuch Maker” pleaded guilty to multiple charges relating to the underground castration and extreme genital modification surgeries he performed on numerous willing participants over six years, according to the Daily Mail and other media outlets.
Maruis Gustavson, 46, appeared in the Old Bailey Central Criminal Courthouse in London on December 19 last year where he admitted his role as the ringleader of a castration cartel that made hundreds of thousands of dollars by posting videos and live-streaming the underground surgical procedures to a paying audience on the dark web.
Gustavson appeared in court via a video link from the HMP Belmarsh prison. The wheelchair-bound Gustavson suffers from limited mobility resulting from his decision to have his leg frozen and amputated. He also choose to have his penis and a nipple surgically removed.
The three men responsible for the three surgical procedures performed on Gustavson earlier pleaded guilty to the crimes, as reported by the BBC.
In April, Nathan Arnold, 48, pleaded guilty to charges related to the removal of Gustavson’s nipple. Damian Byrnes, 35, pleaded guilty to charges related to the surgical removal of Gustavson’s penis. And Peter Wates, 66, pleaded guilty to charges related to the freezing and amputation of Gustavson’s leg.
Another man, Ian Ciucur, 29, pleaded guilty on December 14 to charges related to what prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC called “castration by clamping” on two separate occasions in July 2019.
These and other surgical procedures were live-streamed or recorded on videos which were later posted to a dark website for paying customers. The men were part of a larger subculture known as “nullos” who glorify and find gratification in the removal or nullification of one’s genitals.
Police in the case believe they have identified at least 13 victims and 29 separate offenses involving castration and genital mutilation, the trade and sale of genitals and body parts, and the sale of videos and live-streams of the procedures on a since-deleted dark website.
Same-sex couples can now legally marry in Estonia, in a landmark moment for the Baltic states.
LGBTQ+ people in Estonia have been able to register civil unions since 2016, but the country became the first former Soviet republic to legalise same-sex marriage in June 2023 after a vote of 55 to 34 in the country’s 101-seat parliament.
The legislation officially came into force on New Year’s Day (1 January) and same-sex couples in the country can now register their marriage applications online.
It is believed the first applications will be processed and certified by early February.
Estonia is the first former Soviet republic to legalise equal marriage. (Getty)
Estonia’s minister of social protection, Signe Riisalo, said: “Laws provide clarity and influence our attitudes. I hope that unfounded fears will recede and that critics of this decision will realise that what is being taken away is not something that is being taken away, but something very important that is being added for many of us.”
Keio Soomelt, the project manager for the Baltic Pride festival, described the move as an “important” moment for Estonia.
“For the LGBT+ community, it is a very important message from the government that says, finally, we are as equal as other couples, that we are valuable and entitled to the same services and have the same options,” he said, according to The Guardian.
Estonian president Lauri Hussar (third from left) at Baltic Pride 2023, which was held in Tallinn, Estonia (Facebook)
Also speaking to The Guardian, Marielle Tuum, a teacher from the capital, Tallinn, who will register her marriage to her German girlfriend in the spring, said: “Ten years ago, I didn’t see as many same-sex couples holding hands in public. People are more open now in Estonia.
“I’m really happy that I can do a proper wedding at home and not elsewhere, that has less meaning.”
After the vote in June, prime minister Kaja Kallas sent a message to other central European nations, saying: “It’s a difficult fight, but marriage and love is something that you have to promote.”
Writing on social media, she went on to say: “We’re building a society where everyone’s rights are respected and people can love freely.”
French President Emmanuel Macron appointed 34-year-old Education Minister Gabriel Attal [photo] as his new prime minister on Tuesday, seeking to breathe new life into his second mandate ahead of European parliament elections.
The move will not necessarily lead to any major political shift, but signals a desire for Macron to try to move beyond last year’s unpopular pension and immigration reforms and improve his centrist party’s chances in the June EU ballot.
Attal, a close Macron ally who became a household name as government spokesman during the COVID pandemic, will replace outgoing Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. Attal will be France’s youngest prime minister and the first to be openly gay.
U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, a Republican representing parts of Michigan, encouraged the Ugandan government to “stand firm” amid the international backlash against the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which includes the death penalty in some cases, during a speech in Uganda last October. The act is also known as the “kill the gays” bill.
Walberg made the remarks at Uganda’s National Prayer Breakfast. The Republican co-chairs the event in the U.S. According to reporting by The Young Turks, the trip was paid for by the secretive conservative group The Family — which is also known as the Fellowship Foundation. Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni sat in the audience. He signed the law back in May.
In video in the outlet’s reporting, Walberg is seen “listening to, endorsing and associating himself with the remarks of other speakers. Speakers called LGBTQ+ advocates ‘a force from the bottom of hell’ and urged government officials to adopt ‘Christocracy’ over democracy.”
TYT writes, “Walberg’s trip marks the first time a Family leader or any American lawmaker has publicly embraced the legislation.”
Though Walberg doesn’t mention the Anti-Homosexuality Act, he urges Uganda’s political leaders to not bow down to U.S. or international pressures.
“Though the rest of the world is pushing back on you,” Walberg said during his speech, “though there are other major countries that are trying to get into you and ultimately change you, stand firm. Stand firm.”
The lawmaker referenced Bible stories and verses throughout his speech, according to TYT.
“Worthless is the thought of the world,” he said to applause. “[W]orthless, for instance, is the thought of the World Bank, or the World Health Organization, or the United Nations, or, sadly, some in our administration in America who say, ‘You are wrong for standing for values that God created,’ for saying there are male and female and God created them.’”
Walberg added: “Whose side do we want to be on? God’s side. Not the World Bank, not the United States of America, necessarily, not the U.N. God’s side.”
The Ugandan president welcomed Walberg’s comments, saying that there were Americans who “think like us,” TYT reports.
The national prayer breakfast movement has been a massive project by The Family and has been protested against in the U.S. over The Family’s connections to anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ movements around the world.
Uganda’s breakfast co-chair Member of Parliament David Bahati began championing a “kill the gays” bill more than a decade ago.
In his speech, Walberg told attendees to support the Ugandan president and his violent anti-LGBTQ+ policies: “He knows that he has a Parliament, and … even congressmen like me who will say, ‘We stand with you.’”
None at the event outright spoke about the legislation, TYT notes. However, given the circumstances and the allusions to international pressure, it’s not hard to make the connections.
“I want to thank the congressman from Michigan, because you have seen that we have got the Western people that we see here. I’m not the only one,” Museveni said. He added that Walberg’s support showed that there were others that backed them.
“There are others, also,” Museveni said, TYT reports, “who come to tell you about homosexuals, about abortion. You now know that there are other Americans, other Western people, who think like us.”
Before the new law, Uganda’s penal code already punished same-sex sexual relations with life imprisonment, according to Human Rights Watch. However, the new law created new crimes such as the vaguely worded “promotion of homosexuality” and introduced the death penalty for several acts considered as “aggravated homosexuality.” The new legislation also increased the prison sentence for attempted same-sex conduct to a decade.
The speech hasn’t been widely reported until now. The comments were first reported by the Take Care Tim blog and several other outlets.
During his speech, Walberg said, “I expect some pushback, but I’m not gonna give in to them.”
The Advocate has reached out to Walberg’s office for comment.
A coalition of key LGBTQ+ and immigrants’ rights groups has come forward with a strong condemnation of potential revisions to the United States asylum system. In a letter addressed to President Joe Biden, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and members of Congress, organizations including Immigration Equality, the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, and Lambda Legalhave outlined severe concerns regarding the implications of these changes for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers.
It comes at a critical juncture, just days after the Biden administration indicated its willingness to consider significant changes to the U.S. asylum and immigration system. Last Tuesday, reports emerged that the administration, in discussions with Congress, was open to new border authority measures, including the possibility of expelling migrants without asylum screenings and expanding immigration detention and deportations.
In negotiations with Congress over a roughly $100 billion emergency funding package, which includes military aid and immigration enforcement measures, the White House indicated a willingness to support new, stringent immigration policies, CBS News reported. These include a new legal authority for U.S. border officials to expel migrants without processing their asylum claims, effectively reviving the Trump-era Title 42 policy but without using public health considerations to support it.
Additionally, the administration is considering expanding the use of expedited removal, which allows for the deportation of migrants without court hearings and mandating the detention of certain migrants. These measures are part of an effort to secure Republican backing for the foreign aid package, which includes assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan as well as funding for border enforcement and hiring additional immigration officials.
The letter describes the proposed adjustments as “radically irresponsible restrictions,” drawing parallels with policies from former President Donald Trump’s administration.
“The dangerous and highly politicized proposals under consideration threaten to make asylum inaccessible to a vast majority of refugees,” the letter reads, emphasizing the particular vulnerability of LGBTQ+ individuals escaping persecution and torture.
The coalition points explicitly to the potential reimplementation of expulsion policies that would enable a president to halt asylum access at the border indefinitely. They argue that it is reminiscent of the Title 42 policy’s severe repercussions, during which LGBTQ+ asylum seekers faced egregious violence, including instances of kidnapping, rape, and assault.
Title 42, a policy initially implemented during the Trump administration in March 2020, was framed under the guise of a public health order. Its primary function was to enable U.S. officials to rapidly expel migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, citing the prevention of COVID-19 spread as the rationale. This policy marked a significant shift from previous practices, under which migrants could typically request asylum upon entry, even if entering illegally, and often be allowed into the U.S. to await the outcome of their immigration cases.
Under the stringent measures of Title 42, migrants, regardless of their asylum claims, were swiftly returned across the border, effectively denying them the opportunity to seek asylum. This led to more than 2.8 million expulsions, according to the Associated Press. Notably, families and unaccompanied children were often exempt from these expulsions.
“As we saw under the deadly Title 42 policy, over thirteen thousand migrants were subjected to severe violence in Mexico, including LGBTQ asylum seekers who were kidnapped, raped, and assaulted,” the letter states.
While the policy was initially enacted as a health measure, it had substantial implications for border management and asylum processes, often criticized for circumventing established asylum protocols. In January of this year, the Biden administration announced the end of national COVID-19 emergencies, leading to the cessation of Title 42 restrictions. This has prompted a shift in border policies and asylum processing, sparking debates and legal challenges around the treatment of migrants and the protection of public health.
Equally concerning to the groups is the possibility of enforcing a “Transit Ban” or “Safe Third Country” agreement. The letter highlights the extreme danger these transit countries pose to LGBTQ+ people, marked by widespread violence and discrimination, making them unsuitable as asylum havens.
Transit Ban and Safe Third Country agreements are immigration policies that significantly impact the asylum-seeking process. Under a Transit Ban, asylum seekers who pass through another country before reaching the United States are not eligible to apply for asylum in the U.S., on the assumption that they should have sought asylum in the first safe country they entered.
Similarly, Safe Third Country agreements are formal arrangements between the U.S. and other countries, requiring refugees to seek protection in the first country they enter that is deemed safe, effectively barring them from claiming asylum in the U.S. if they traveled through a designated “safe” third country. These policies have been controversial, as they can force asylum seekers, including those from vulnerable groups like the LGBTQ+ community, to seek refuge in countries where they may still face danger or where the asylum process is not as robust as in the United States.
Additionally, the letter critiques the idea of tightening the asylum screening process, asserting that this could lead to the wrongful return of legitimate LGBTQ+ asylum seekers to countries where they face persecution. The coalition stresses the critical need to maintain an accessible and equitable asylum system, especially for groups at heightened risk, like the LGBTQ+ community.
The Advocate reached out to the White House for comment.
Concluding its message, the coalition made a plea: “The lives of LGBTQ asylum seekers must not be compromised in legislative bargaining.” They call on the Biden administration and Congress to contemplate the grave consequences of these proposed policy changes and to pursue immigration reform that protects the rights and safety of refugees and asylum seekers.
Events in recent months have raised fear among Ghana’s human rights activists, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and allies.
In October, police stopped a 30-year-old who was carrying sex toys at a checkpoint, detained and threatened them with jailtime. The police demanded a bribe of 500 cedis (40 USD) for the person to be released, an unlawful and cruel expense, particularly in a context of severe economic hardship.
In September, school authorities dismissed a 17-year-old student over allegations that he was gay from a boys’ boarding school in Accra, activists told Human Rights Watch. According to one activist, their investigations revealed other forms of homophobic acts against the child, including a death threat, because he appeared effeminate. A petition organized by local activists was sent to the district and regional education offices, and the student was allowed to return to register for the senior school certificate examination.
A bill before parliament proposes heavier criminal penalties for same sex activities, increasing the maximum penalty from three years in prison to five and expanding criminalization for anyone who identifies as LGBT, or as queer, as pansexual, an ally, or any other non-conventional gender identity. It would also punish anyone providing support or funding or publicly advocating for sexual and gender minorities rights.
In my former capacity as a lecturer in political science, I used to cite Ghana as a stable country in West Africa where the rule of law prevailed. However, challenges such as the current discrimination against LGBT people, alongside other obstacles including the underrepresentation of women in politics and the shrinking of civic space, are compromising Ghana’s success story. Today, there is a deepened trepidation among human rights defenders and civil societyorganizations working on social justice and sexual and gender diversity.
In February 2021, police raided and closed down an LGBT resource center which, among other things, provided community-based interventions services and information about HIV/AIDS. It has since been increasingly difficult to provide health services to marginalized groups disproportionately affected by HIV and related infections. As Nasser, a community leader, told Human Rights Watch,“Even spaces that were opened before are now closing doors for us because of what is happening. It is extremely difficult to operate properly.”
Since the bill was presented in June 2021, Rightify Ghana, an organization that advocates for sexual ad gender minorities in Ghana has documented multiple accounts of people who have been arbitrarily evicted from their homes. According to activists, landlords say that they are protecting themselves and their families or use the bill as a pretext to unfairly raise LGBT people’s rent.
Some parliament members have been actively provoking anti–LGBT sentiment and practices. Sam George, who presents himself as a “charismatic Christian,” and eight other Members of Parliament from the National Democratic Congress party and the New Patriotic Party are pushing to get the anti-LGBT bill passed before the year’s end. Statements, by George and allies, claiming that sexual and gender equality are incompatible with African culture attract the support of religious and traditional leaders, and many Ghanaians.
But they conveniently ignore Ghana’s secular status and African principles such as ubuntu, dignity, equality, non-discrimination, empathy, protection from violence and care for each other. These African principles have shaped Ghana’s independence struggles and continue to contribute to the consolidation of a democratic state.
These same principles have led other African countries like Mozambique (2015), Botswana (2019), Angola (2021), Gabon and Mauritius (2022) to overturn colonial-era laws criminalizing same-sex relations. Some countries go further to imbed human rights standards and not only adopt anti-discrimination laws, but recognize same sex marriage, like South Africa in 2006.
Ghana’s parliament should consider the disastrous social, political, and economic consequences that the anti-LGBT bill will have on journalists, human rights defenders, women, families, and on other minorities in the country. If passed into law, the bill will not only imperil fundamental human rights enshrined in Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, but also violate regional and international human rights obligations, such as the principles of nondiscrimination and equality enshrined in the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights.
There are also serious economic risks. If the bill is passed, it could represent a risk to Ghana’s negotiating power in debt restructuring negotiations for example, lending ability from international investment institutions like the World Bank or IMF, and trade and circulation, a not insignificant concern given the country’s economic challenges.
Parliament should immediately withdraw the bill. Not only is it inconsistent with the Ghana’s human rights obligations, including in the constitution, and incites fear, hatred, and violence against fellow Ghanaian citizens, but its passage would be an anti-democratic and authoritarian turn for Ghana.
A gay man has expressed his horror and hopelessness after learning that he will be deported back to Uganda after living in Canada for five years.
The 25-year-old man, who came to Canada in 2018 as an international student, and has since worked in Edmonton, Alberta as a nurse, ran out of options this year when his work visa expired and his application for refugee status was rejected.
Uganda has become one of the most dangerous countries for LGBTQ+ people this year, with the introduction of its harsh Anti-Homosexuality Act.
A gay man is set to be deported to Uganda after failing to obtain refugee status in Canada because he cannot definitively prove his sexual orientation. (Getty)
Despite the inherent danger that awaits him at home, the man, who remained anonymous when speaking to Canada’s Global News to protect his identity, has had his refugee application and all subsequent appeals rejected.
The man, who is identified by the news outlet as “Sue”, explained that his refugee application was rejected because they couldn’t prove his sexual orientation.
“I don’t know how to prove… How am I supposed to prove that I’m a gay man? I just told you I am a gay man,” he said.
Lawyer Michael Battista, who also spoke to the publication, said that Sue had done his best to verify his sexual identity, providing evidence of his participation in the LGBTQ+ community in Edmonton, and an affidavit from a well-known Ugandan LGBTQ+ activist to verify that he is gay. But so far, this hasn’t made a difference in Sue’s case.
“I have nowhere to go,” Sue said. “I’m stranded and even the place I thought would comfort me is forcing me out.
“It’s hard to explain the feeling, but right now I feel like I have nowhere to go.”
Sue admitted that he had presumed that in Canada he would be “comfortable” and “fine as I am”.
He continued: “The fact that I have to prove my sexuality beyond reasonable doubt is quite ridiculous to me.
“This whole thing is a horror. I feel like I’m in a nightmare and I really want to wake up, but I cannot. I’m just praying and hoping that the government can intervene.”
If nothing changes, Sue, who began his application process back in April 2022, will be deported on Tuesday (19 December).
Battista noted that he couldn’t understand why Canada hadn’t put a moratorium on the deportation, which he said could be done for people who would be returning to communities where they’d be put in danger.
“Given the deterioration of the human rights situation in [Uganda], it would be, I think, a very good policy move on the part of the government of Canada,” he said.
While he waits in limbo for the next few days, it’s hard for Sue not to think about what might await him in Uganda.
“My whole family abandoned me so even if I reach the airport, I don’t know where I’m going to stay. I don’t know where I’m going to go. I’ve run out of options.”
“There is a very high chance that I’ll be arrested and tortured, just for identifying as a gay man. This is really something very, very disheartening that a fellow human being can treat someone harshly.”
Sue has also written to Alberta MP Randy Boissoneault about his case, the office of whom told Global News that they were aware of his situation and working with immigration officials.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) told the outlet that the “decision to remove someone from Canada is not taken lightly” and “all individuals who ae subject to removal have access to due process and procedural fairness.”
Their statement read: “Canada is monitoring the situation in Uganda and remains committed to offer refugee protection to those who need it, including individuals who have been persecuted on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, and sex characteristics.”
Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill has sparked an enormous outcry from LGBTQ+ rights and human rights groups around the world, with the US going as far as to revise travel guidance to the country and imposing sanctions against Ugandan officials.
Still, the country has insisted that it won’t sway, and has accused the US of pushing “the LGBT agenda in Africa.”
Poland has violated the right to respect for a private life by failing to offer legal recognition for same-sex couples, the European Court of Human Rights said on Tuesday, putting pressure on Donald Tusk’s new government to quickly change the law.
Ten Poles argued that the vast majority of Council of Europe member states offered same-sex couples a right to marry or to enter into registered civil unions, and asserted that they were disadvantaged, for example in the fields of taxation, social rights and family law.
“The Court considered that the Polish State had failed to comply with its duty to ensure that the applicants had a specific legal framework providing for the recognition and protection of their same-sex unions,” it said in a statement.
“That failure had resulted in the applicants’ inability to regulate fundamental aspects of their lives and amounted to a breach of their right to respect for their private and family life.”
The case dates back to the rule of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which was effectively ended after eight years on Monday when parliament backed a new pro-European government under Tusk to take power after October’s election.
PiS says that extending marriage and adoption to gay couples threatens traditional family structures and is harmful for children. It also says that teaching about LGBTQ issues in schools results in children being sexualized.
Tusk had said during the election campaign that his party would introduce a provision for same-sex partnerships and he considered it a priority.
As a sign of his government’s dedication to fighting discrimination, Tusk’s cabinet will be the first to include a minister for equality, Katarzyna Kotula, a politician from the New Left party forming part of his pro-European coalition.
“It’s a good day. The time of discrimination is coming to an end. We know that we are all different, but we are equal. We will ensure equality for all — which is guaranteed by … the Constitution,” she wrote on social media platform X.
Tusk will face a vote of confidence in parliament later on Tuesday and his government could be sworn in on Wednesday morning.
ECHR rulings are binding on members of the Council of Europe, an organization separate from the European Union, but some remain outstanding for years.
The Love Does Not Exclude Association which supported the applicants in court said the ruling would result in “serious pressure” on the government to introduce same-sex partnerships.
“Since the new government wants to rebuild Poland’s reputation … and prove that the rule of law crisis has ended, it will not be able to ignore the voices of international bodies such as the tribunal,” it said in a statement.
When I first started questioning my sexuality and identity, I didn’t feel butterflies. I didn’t feel excited or even the strong desire to understand more about these new feelings. I felt scared. Terrified even. I knew that even the first tendrils of these thoughts had the capability to unravel my entire life.
And unravel it they did. My past world had revolved closely around my community and my family. When you grow up in a Pakistani Muslim household as I did – and strictly Muslim at that – there is often a great reverence and respect placed upon relatives and elders, and also a strong emphasis placed on the importance of blood ties and family.
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I grew up thinking of myself as a boy. In a world where men had certain duties and roles, my entire life and my outlook on the world was shaped by these men and the power they held.
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Transness brought a real loneliness, and my world fell apart. My family withdrew from me, but I also shrank from their touch. Since then, I have found it hard to find community that I can really relate to.
So imagine my delight at finding Club Kali.
Creating magic
Club Kali emerged in the 90’s club scene in London, 1995 specifically, out of an intense need to develop an environment of freedom, dignity, and beautiful brown magic in the closeted doorways and rain-soaked paving stones of the city.
The struggle to build a space for Desi people, even without the added layers of queer identity, was intertwined with the tail end of 70s and 80s political movements for equality that were cloaked in political blackness and the strong stereotype of “queerness” being equated with whiteness.
This struggle drew together two incredible Desi women – DJ Ritu and Rita.
Ritu and Rita met at the Shakti Disco, a venue in the London Lesbian & Gay Centre (LLGC) in Farringdon (a community center in London), where Ritu was the DJ. When Shakti closed, Ritu – by day a full-time youth worker – knew something was needed to replace one of the few scenes where intersectional Desi queer people could connect with a culture that often relied on the family love they had lost. For Rita – by day working with victims of Domestic Violence – her love of music was key to this future they wanted to build.
Ritu spoke with LGBTQ Nation about the first time she met Rita: “Rita walked into my DJ booth at the LLGC and asked for an Abba track to be played. I thought she was gorgeous. This thought was unrequited for about 3 years! But we became friends and then a couple. Eventually, we simply became business partners that created the two [of the] longest-running Asian club nights in the world. Club Kali since 1995 and our straight Bollywood club, Kuch Kuch Nights since 2000.”
Music and dance are strong reminders of the past, used as key tools in many cultures to teach the stories of ancestors and morality, but they are also important for self-reflection, self-love, and community care. Queer Desi communities called out for the magic of their culture to be intertwined with the newer aspects of London nightlife, in a time where community care was all but essential.
As Ritu explains, “Last century, being LGBTQ+ was an isolating, lonely, experience of feeling confused and ‘othered’. We had very few positive images of people like us in the media, particularly women. There were almost no South Asian role models – queer or non-queer. Everything associated with who we thought we were, was negative, and of course the intersectional racism, sexism, and homophobia was difficult. Eventually, I found a ‘gay scene’ in 1985, went on my first Pride march, and a few years later, became a founding member of a new South Asian LGBTQ organization, Shakti”.
DJ Ritu is a pioneer in this sense, and Rita is right up there with her. They dragged a biased world into a new age of music by never forgetting their roots but also never feeling the need to sacrifice all they had learned from their time in the UK music scene.
Ritu says that Kali itself was born specifically out of a need for safety, but also the need for a multicultural, multi-faith space that celebrated South Asian music. She says as a DJ, her magic is in the bringing together of diverse cultures through the power and joy of music, culminating on the dance floor. Through her work with Club Kali and her many other venues, she has provided a proper performance space for new artists and drag acts, and even hosted high-profile Brit Asian stars like Rishi Rich, Juggy D, and Jay Sean.
To take it upon yourself to walk a path so hard is awe-inspiring, but unfortunately very common within the Desi Queer community. Many of us even now are forced, through the “othering” of ourselves as individuals and as a community, to walk alone. And while that is changing, I was keen to ask Ritu, along with Club Kali’s Community Engagement Officer Sakib Khan, what they think of the evolving world, and if they think we are on a track to more freedom and autonomy for queer Desi youth.
Ritu sees a bright future ahead, stating that Club Kali and its members and team, trailblazed and created new pathways for so many others to follow. She says that as soon as Kali was held up as a baton for others to see, many new and similar clubs opened. She spoke warmly of Zindagi – a club founded in 2003 for queer people in Manchester, that plays a colorful mix of the latest Bhangra, Bollywood tunes, Arabic music, RnB, HipHop and Dance, which she says is “furthering the boundary of clubbing.” She also praised the acclaimed Saathi club night in Birmingham. “Authenticity is key,” she said, “It must come from the heart.”
Sakib agrees, saying: “There are more events now than when Kali started, nightlife has changed a great deal in the 28 years since Kali began and there is greater visibility of LGBTQ+ people of color and from the South Asian diaspora, which is wonderful to see. Also, the change in legislation across the globe, particularly in India, has begun to shift attitudes. People have digital channels as a way of connecting and finding community. All of these are positives and with each generation comes a change in attitude”.
So we’re going strong, and now more than ever, with dangerous legislation on trans people finding its way into politics around the world, a space of safety and community for marginalized queer people is desperately needed. I pointed this out to Ritu, emphasizing my anger and pain as a generation of trans youth building our own new worlds, and she agreed strongly that while things are looking up in many areas, a huge push overall is needed.
“I wish we could do more… Because there’s such a huge need for it. But sadly, no – there aren’t enough spaces for queer Desi youth being made. Club Kali is limited in how much help and support we can offer to people at the moment. There certainly does need to be more funding for specialist organizations that can offer other services”.
Even so, it’s inspiring to see such strong figures exist in a world I thought I would never have and to see how much love and strength they have cultivated and nurtured for our community. Club Kali was established to offer shelter, and it would seem – through incredible platforms in dance, performance art, music, and even film – that it has developed into a godmother of the queer Desi clubbing scene.
