The country’s only annual Marathi LGBTQIA literary festival begins on December 8 in Pune. Mainstream literary festivals rarely provide space and opportunity to showcase LGBTQIA issues, said the organizers of Mooknayak 2024, the third edition of the All India Marathi LGBTQIA Literary Conference. In the program organized by Bindu Queer Rights Foundation and Yutak Charitable Trust, a proposal to demand horizontal reservation for transgender people in government jobs will also be submitted.
Bindu Madhav Khire, director of Bindu Queer Rights Foundation, said, “This is a small effort to provide a platform for writers, whether or not they belong to the community, who write about LGBTQIA issues to share their work and experiences,” organizers of the event told The Indian Express. “Over the last few years, communities and allies have started writing about LGBTQIA issues in Marathi,” Khire said.
Anil Ukarande, president of the Yutak Charitable Trust and one of the organizers, said that the issues and expressions of the LGBTQIA community have long been ignored by mainstream literary gatherings. “Inspired by the thoughts of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, we are organizing the Mooknayak LGBTQIA Literature Festival to provide a platform for positive LBTQIA literature in Marathi,” he added.
Organizers expect at least 150 participants, including panellists. Among them is Shubhi, the first transgender student at Ferguson College to read her poems on LGBTQIA. Shubhi said that being a transgender woman has its own unique challenges. “Surviving these trials requires great courage and resilience and this event has filled me with a strong sense of strength and purpose. It is a valuable platform where I can share my thoughts, struggles and hopes,” Shubhi said.
According to Ashok Row Kavi, India’s first LGBTQIA activist, the Marathi Literary Festival “gives voice to sexual minorities to add to the spectrum of human voices about our existence on this piece of rock in the solar system”. “It shows that we have the same human qualities and it can surprise others how lively and versatile we are,” said the poet.
For Sonali Dalvi, a transgender activist, the sad part is that even though the SC granted them reservation in the NALSA decision, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 does not provide reservation to transgenders. “Therefore we are now requesting horizontal reservation for transgender persons. Signatures and signatures in support of the proposal will be sent to the Ministry of Social Justice,” Dalvi said.
ACP Bhanupratap Berge (Retd.), Geethali VM, Editor and Purush Uwach of Milun Sarayajani, Ashok Row Kavi, Laxmikant Deshmukh (Chairman of Baroda All India Marathi Literary Conference 2017) and others will be felicitated at the event. Noted child psychiatrists Dr. Bhushan Shukla and Vindumadhav Khire will speak on definitions and statistical usage in LGBTIQ related literature, while a special Palak Katta session has been arranged for LGBTQIA parents to share their experiences and interact with the audience.
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