India is a diverse country with 9 prominently recognised religions, 22 official languages in 13 different scripts & 720 dialects with many yet to be researched and 2293 political parties staging separate ideologies.
Constitution stands in support of its people in all forms, yet the questions arise.
Confusions prevail and certain communities stay barred from exercising their fundamental rights & duties.
Indian Instagram LGBT Influencers paint a different art and write separate story about the unity in diversity found in our country.
How well do we know our constitution?
Do we know all about the famous article 377?
The Indian penal code is the official comprehensive code that covers all critical aspects of Indian law & legal entities. The constitution is designed precisely keeping all counterparts of the nation in mind, yet there are issues and flaws still being reformed, amended and changed.
Indians belonging to the LGBT+ community have faced discriminations, inequality, suppression and everything regressive. Few cases get filed and several go unreported due to society’s indifference towards the community.
Activists, writers, poets, influencers, celebrities and liberals have stood beside the causes, trying all possibilities to change the scenes in India.
Article 377, criminalised sexual activities “against the order of nature.” This law invaded the private spaces of individuals and contradicted the articles 14, 15 & 21, which confers every Indian with the explicit right to privacy & equality.
After a long battle in the supreme court, the LGBT+ community finally claimed major success by getting the Article 377 decriminalised on September 6th, 2018.
Indian society still differentiates and judges the community due to which individuals strive to live peacefully yet today.
Killings, massacres, violence, harassment and abuses have become common towards the group; hence many social activists and reformers have started doing their bit to change the way world looked at LGBT+ community.
People are voicing opinions, writing their minds and raising questions to the self-claimed “straight” majority. Notable personalities have been fighting the unheard battles of gender equality and many have faced mystery deaths in due course of time.
We have documented some exceptional noteworthy personalities and groups from the LGBT+ community who influence lives through Indian Instagram accounts.
Top Indian Instagram LGBT Influencers
1. Durga Gawde Studio: Smart, Rebellious and distinct 25-year-old Durga is an educator, performance artist & TEDx speaker.
They recognise as gender fluid individuals who can feel being a man and even a woman together. He/she are not the appropriate pronouns rather them, their, they are preferred while discussing Durga.
They have 12.6k followers on Instagram account and flaunt their best looks on it. Talking on social issues, atrocities towards the Queer community are primary on their account.
They recently were featured in a live video with RJ Malishka from 93.5 RedFM in Mumbai discussing on the realities and importance of the pride month.
They wear a rainbow every single day to preach love & humanity. Durga says rainbow symbolizes pride and they wear it to feel proud & powerful, thereby accepting their truths unapologetically.
Durga Gawde was featured in many ads and documentaries thereby is looked up as one of the key Indian Instagram LGBT influencers. Bringing in significant changes in society and shaping ideas on the queer community are major goals of their account.
2. Priyanka Paul: She goes with the Instagram name Artwhoring, which signifies Dignity in labour. The account illustrates some crazy, funky and idiosyncratic art pieces depicting Women power, body positivity and mental health.
Her account is everything you would love about queer and showcases creativity in its best form. Priyanka has received global fame due to her artwork and owns an online store where she sells unique merchandise.
Her artistic works got featured in The Fader, Femina, The Huffington Post, Shethepeople, Buzzfeed and India today.
3. Alok Vaid Menon: They identifies themselves as Transfeminine and is known for normalising discussions on violence against gender non-conforming people of colour.
“I had to learn to perform “boy” so that people wouldn’t harass me” recalls vaid-menon. Vaid wrote poems when they was a teenager, and this helped them vent out pain, agony and trauma instilled by the society.
A gender non-conforming performance artist and writer, Alok runs an Instagram page with 217k followers. They have a website dedicated to the art, writing, blogs, opinions for the LGBT+ community.
Vaid has a successful Facebook page where they create videos on poetry & prose, on-stage performances and art.
Being featured in leading channels like HBO, MTV, BBC, CNN & new York times, they have presented their support and opinions on 500 venues in 40 different countries.
Menon is must mention in the list of admirable, inspiring Indian Instagram LGBT influencers who work towards bringing in overall progress.
4. Alex Matthew: One of India’s rare talent, Matthew goes by the name “Maya the Drag queen” and performs to express. The 30-year-old artist identifies self as Queer and created the character “mayamma” who is relatable with a background story which inspires the listeners.
With the motive to bring out and express all atrocities faced by the LGBT+ community, Mayamma which also meant “mother of illusion” or “mother of magic” performed drag art.
He has continuously put efforts in making people understand that Drag performance is the art which is separate from the gender or community the performer belongs.
He aspires to build stronger tales under the name of Mayamma and inspire women to be strong and fight back abuse.
Mayathedragqueen has 13.1k followers on Instagram account and brings in a lot of positive messages in support of the LGBT+ community.
5. Gaylaxy magazine: This special magazine was started in 2010 by Sukhdeep singh, a gay rights activist in India.
The Instagram account has 2k followers and represents the vast culture of the LGBT+ community.
The Gaylaxy magazine releases regular articles to bash the rooted misconception that the indigenous queer community is an outcome of the westernization, globalization and liberalization.
It has continuously given out message in support of same-sex relationships and equal rights to the LGBT+ group. The Gaylaxy magazine is growing on social media sites and the content they post make it worth visiting.
Regular updated news and authentic information found in their content makes them one among the revolutionary Indian Instagram LGBT influencers.
6. Aravani art project: The group comprises of artists and activists who build spaces for people from transgender communities to connect.
Aravani art project Instagram page has over 5k followers and they work towards colouring, creating and painting localities and streets dedicated to the abuses faced by transgender and queer communities.
The Aravani art project page gives sufficient exposure to the members of the transgender, bisexual communities through visual arts, videography and murals.
Photographers, filmmakers, artists, activists and social workers have provided the LGBT+ community a platform to express and be heard.
7. Queerkala: With the mission of developing talents and providing platforms to individuals belonging to the LGBT+ community, Queerkala Instagram page has 7k followers.
They work on the idea of ensuring all young individuals belonging to the community understand themselves and attain equality, sustainability & equity.
The page has inspiring posts and they often launch stories on the live events that are organised to spread the awareness and fact about the LGBT+ community.
The page has a lot of queer positivity and acceptance related content that would motivate people towards embracing the real self and explore opportunities in their interested field.
8. Rohit Singh: With over 17.4k followers on Instagram handle RoRo_Love_makeup, Rohit is a professional make-up artist. He breaks all gender-based stereotypes and believes that make-up is not gendered specific.
A thought which states that putting liners and lipsticks is gender neutral and it is an art for anyone who can do it puts out a rare and positive message.
Runway to bridal, everything on make-up comes to Rohit like magic. He knows art at its best form and ensures that any societal rules do not bound it. Rohit’s account on social media leaves people awestruck and he is known amongst celebrities for being a fab Instagram LGBT influencer in India.
9. Taksh Sharma: “Runway muse” as she considers herself, Taksh goes by the Instagram handle name Kawaibloggerchan with over 3k followers. The account is quite inspiring with its bold, daring and stunning pictures & posts.
The account gives a clear message to its followers that is “have the courage to be yourself.”
Taksh is a confident trans freelance stylist and model who writes as well.
One incredible personality who believes in breaking all misconception and ideas about the LGBT+ community through art, fashion, styling and writing.
10. Ankit Dasgupta: Social media manager and television strategist at popular television network, Ankit is a 25-year-old gay activist who actively stands by the LGBT+ community. He sets an example for being one of the fine Indian Instagram LGBT influencers that creators can look up at.
He participates in the pride month flashmobs every year and loves working in queer inclusive projects.
Ankit deserves all the praise for being the fierce, bold and amazing Indian Instagram LGBT influencers.
With over 5k followers, Ankit’s Instagram profile is a documentation of his daily life with his ideologies and opinions on the queer group.
He worked closely with Faye d Souza and promoted amendments in article 377 towards the acceptance of homosexuality. Their contribution towards the revolutionary verdict on the law is noteworthy.
11. Sushant Divgikar: Popular for his drag queen character “Rani KoHEnur” Divgikar bagged the winner cup for Mr gay India 2014.
He is a singer, performer and drag artist who expresses opinions glazed in relatable stories. Sushant is a mind blowing performer, best known for his confident presentations and praiseworthy skills in performing art.
The character “Rani KoHEnur” he weaved stories around was the first ever drag queen who got telecasted on the national television.
His Instagram page has 320k followers, where his fans get the necessary doses of motivation, information and awareness. Sushant is an actor and a good TV host too.
12. Anwesh Sahoo: The Troy Perry award Recipient and youngest ever Mr. Gay World India winner, Anwesh is all about inspiration. He is admired for his art, creativity and Intelligence therefore is one of the loved Indian Instagram LGBT influencers.
He won the crown in 2016 at the age of 20 and stood firm in the long LGBTQ activism. He is a multitalented personality. A TEDx speaker, artist, writer, blogger and performer, Sahoo lives in Delhi and is the creator of the Effeminare which you must check out to get a dose of positive creativity.
His Instagram page has over 3k followers. On his creators’ page the.effeminare, he illustrates fashion ideas, utopian world creatives and much more.
Lover of old school Indian art, music and fashion, Sahoo is a fearless, bold and influencing person on social media.
13. Vqueeram Aditya Sahai: With over 8.6k followers on Instagram Vikramaditya takes a firm stand on LGBT+ issues.
He teaches at Ambedkar University, where he is famous for keeping an unconventional view of the gender binary.
His work on gender inequality, violence on LGBT+, ideology and opinion can be traced on social media platforms.
According to Vikramaditya, biases associated with gender are a form of violence which is unnecessary and unhealthy. He has inspired people to love their gender & sexuality while accepting the realities and taking necessary steps to prevent injustice.
The pride month has bought in people from different walks of life together all over the world. People are marching, performing and spreading knowledge on sexuality, acceptance, nature of humankind and similar issues to the public.
Indian Instagram LGBT influencers are doing their part in spreading the ideology, fact, opinions and information about the communities that are usually ignored on many stages.
The LGBT+ community has faced a lot of atrocities and abuses till date, they still do. Therefore, NGO’s, organisations, institutes have taken the necessary steps to reduce and halt all of these. Many Indian Instagram LGBT influencers voiced their opinions and staged protests on social media to garner attention of people towards the issue.
India recently scrapped the irrational and much-debated article 377, which bought in new hopes of living a normal life to the concerned community. The diversity seen in the country has bought unity to its people this year.
Workshops and meetings ensure people are treated equally and communities under LGBT+ banner get all the deserving opportunities to express themselves.
Indian LGBT influencers on Instagram arranged meetups, held discussions and created content to spread awareness continuously and we appreciate all efforts that they made to catalyze the situation and bring in revolutionary changes for the community.
The constitution of India now is changing towards a better future by including all of its people and giving them equal rights to live & express.
There are many more notable celebrities from Bollywood, Indian politics, Journalism and law background who are fighting along to bring in harmony to the LGBT+ groups.