''Gaylaxy'' is an Indian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

) magazine. The magazine is based in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

History and development

''Gaylaxy'' was founded by Sukhdeep Singh. In 2010, Singh was still an eighth semester BTech student at the

Indian School of Mines Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad (abbreviated IIT (ISM), Dhanbad) is a prestigious public technical university located in Dhanbad, India. It has main campus of 218 acres in Sardar Patel Nagar area of Dhanbad and ...

Dhanbad Dhanbad is the second-most populated city in the Indian state of Jharkhand after Jamshedpur. It ranks as the 42nd largest city in India and is the 33rd largest million-plus urban agglomeration in India. Dhanbad shares its land borders with Pa ...

. Singh is the current editor-in-chief and is also a gay rights activist in India. The initial team consisted mostly of the editor's close friends and contacts. The first issue was published in January 2010, after India's "high court overturned a law that criminalized homosexuality." The second issue of the magazine saw the launch of the website. Later, in 2013 this law was again reinstated, making being in a same sex relationship in India illegal again. After the Indian Supreme Court's decision effectively re-criminalizing LGBTIQ citizens in December 2013, a dedicated Hindi section of Gaylaxy Magazine was created with an inaugural issue of 8 articles. Sachin Jain joined forces with Sukhdeep as he wanted to positively and constructively channelize his anger and frustration at disparaging description of the community as "a minuscule minority with so called rights", rooted in the misconception that the indigenous queer movement is an elitist product of Westernization, liberalization and globalization. ''Gaylaxy'' also released an app on 14 February 2014 relating to the website and its content.The application is maintained by Apurv Gupta. In their effort towards going mobile, the website was also made available on news reading application called "Plash". The ''Gaylaxy'' app is considered a "possible first for the gay community" in India, according to ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

''.

Publication and content

''Gaylaxy'' was originally distributed as a monthly magazine. From 2011 to 2013, it was a bi-monthly publication, distributed online free of cost. But from 2014, ''Gaylaxy'' is available only as a website and discontinued its pdf issues. The magazine claims to have a worldwide readership, with nearly 60% from India, followed by United States, UK,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and Canada. The magazine has contributors from all parts of India, including Pakistan. It has covered a wide variety of issues pertaining to LGBT in India. The content is generally made up of: * A cover story highlighting in detail various LGBT issues in the country. * LGBT news from India and around the world, details of film festivals, pride festivals, interviews. * Relationship advice, movie reviews, literature, fiction and poems sent in by readers, sexual health and safety, and tarot readings. * Personal articles sent by people about their opinions, lives and coming out. Each issue of ''Gaylaxy'' also carries a list of

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s across India working for LGBT issues with their contact details. It has covered issues from all around the world including the anti-gay bills in Uganda and Russia,

California Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in court ...

and

LGBT rights in Pakistan Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Pakistan face social difficulties compared to non-LGBT persons. Even in large cities, gays and lesbians have to be highly discreet about their sexual orientation. Pakistani law prescribes ...

. The magazine also publishes regular news articles on its websites about LGBT events in India.

Events

Gaylaxy has been organizing various seminars, events, ceremonies, workshops, awareness sessions for the community and at colleges as well. * In October 2016, it organized an event called " Breaking the Closet " wherein many activists including Gautam Yadav, Rituparna Borah,

Anwesh Sahoo Anwesh Kumar Sahoo (born 4 July 1995) is an Indian artist, blogger, writer, model, actor and a TEDx speaker. He was crowned Mr. Gay World India 2016, becoming the youngest winner of the crown at the age of 20. He represented India at the Mr. G ...

, Sharif D Rangnekar, and several people from the audience shared their coming out stories and the connotations of " closet ". * It supported the pride march organized by

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi is a public institute of technology located in New Delhi, India. It is one of the 23 IITs created to be Centres of Excellence for training, research and development in science, engineering and technolo ...

and

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

students where Sukhdeep Singh spoke about coming out. * In November 2016, it organized " Queer Carnival " where people from the LGBTQ+ community showcased their talent in singing, dancing, poetry etc. * It organized a workshop on Gender, Sexuality and Power in

Presidency University, Kolkata Presidency University, Kolkata (formerly known as Presidency College, Kolkata) is a second major public state aided research university located in College Street, Kolkata. Considered as one of best colleges when Presidency College was affili ...

on 15 December, through practical hands – on exercises and interactive sessions.The workshop involved a journey through multiple exercises and interactive sessions to break down the stigma and silence the concerns issues related to Gender and Sexuality on campuses.

Works

Gaylaxy Hindi has published a total of 185 works by 53 contributors since 1 January 2014. The magazine has published an Indo-Pak gay love story called 'Zero Line' by a queer writer Hadi Hussain Bhatt from Lahore, reporting on issues and achievements of both Pakistani and Bangladeshi LGBTIQ movements, development of relationships based on trust with closeted individuals in the heartland and encouraging them to express themselves. Gaylaxy also interviewed Xulhaz Manan, just a couple of days before he lost his life to extremists in Bangladesh. In 2015, Sachin was invited to speak about our work with Gaylaxy Hindi at the Queer Asia Conference at the Society of Oriental and African Studies in London. In 2016, his article on Hindi queer writing, "(Not) His Master's Voice" was also published in an anthology about Indian urban queer spaces called "Queer Potli".

Awards and recognitions

Sukhdeep Singh, for his work on ''Gaylaxy'' and significant involvement and leadership in LGBT communities, was conferred with January Marie Lapuz Youth Leadership Award on 1 January 2017 by the South Asian queer organization Sher Vancouver.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control 2010 establishments in West Bengal Bi-monthly magazines published in India LGBT-related magazines published in India Magazines established in 2010