31 May,2025 06:55 AM IST | Mumbai | The Editorial
The Kashish team at the Mumbai Press Club yesterday
The city's Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) film festival Kashish is back for its 16th year. The film festival will open at a Bandra West venue this time, on June 4 after which films will be screened in Andheri and South Mumbai.
It is interesting that the Kashish caravan, which has been trundling on with pride (pun intended) for 16 years now, has a new venue for its showpiece opening night. This is a welcome move as it is also illustrative of the fact that more spaces in the city may be ready to accept queer-themed events on their premises. There is, of course, the commercial aspect too, as the âpink rupee' is still money, but the fact that new spaces are being explored is reason enough to cheer.
The LGBTQ community is stifled not just in intangible ways, but in physical spaces, too. Gay couples are afraid to be seen out in public spaces, sometimes it is just too dangerous for them. Even visiting a queer film festival is done surreptitiously by some, hidden from family members. Here, OTT platforms that allow anonymity, is a safer option. In fact, it is the Internet that has seen so many âcoming out' as the online space offered LGBTQ individuals the space that simply does not exist or is too dangerous in the real, offline, physical world.
Yet, just like living in fear all one's life is so detrimental to mental health, so is being confined to so few places that one is practically invisible in the city. Mumbai must show its inclusivity by opening up spaces for well-regulated, structured events for this community too. Unafraid to show they are giving their space to people who are forced to cower in the shadows for so long. Open hearts, minds and spaces for the people who have as much a right to public space as anybody else.
