Good news! Nigah is planning another Queerfest this August!
Over the last few years, some of you have expressed interest in getting involved, so we are happy to invite you to a meeting to discuss and plan this year's Queerfest.
Please join us with your suggestions and ideas, or simply to know what we're planning.
Time: 6 pm
Date: Saturday, 18th April
Place: India Coffee House, Mohan Singh Place, CP.
SPREAD THE WORD! EVERYONE IS WELCOME!
-- Meet the new NIGAH community Bloghttp://nigahdelhi.blogspot.com/
For Delhi Pride: http://groups.google.com/group/delhi-queer-pride?hl=en
For Nigah: contact@nigah.org
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ReplyDeleteMinutes of the Queer Pride planning meeting held on 9th May 2009 at Indian Coffee House, CP, New Delhi.
Next Meeting: Saturday, 23.05.2009, 6 pm at India Coffee House, Mohan Singh Place!
Date: Sunday, 28 June, 2009!
Route
Same as last year, from the corner of Tolstoy Marg and Barakhamba Road to Jantar Mantar, with a gathering at Jantar Mantar afterwards.
Logo
- Same basic logo as last year, with new dates. Pavi and Mayur to send it out by the day after.
- last year some people felt that the HIndi translation (which said dilli sanglengik aur transgender garv utsav) excludes bisexuals and some other queer people. There is no equivalent for queer, which is what the english logo said. Sarvalengik was suggested as an option instead of sanglengik. Opinions?
- Hi-res versions of the logo should be put up on the blog so that people can download it and use it themselves.
Police Permission:
Someone will need to go to the Parliament Street Police Station and get the permissions. Sid volunteered to at the last meeting, Zahid and Aarti at this one. They will need to know what sort of permission to get, apart from the basic march/protest one, depending on what other elements (microphones, stages, floats etc) the parade has this year, so that needs to be finalised quickly.
People in charge of Police Permissions: Aarti Sethi, Zahid, Sid
Press:
Last year, the Queer Media Collective issued an official press release on the day before the parade. Will do the same this year.
Media carried lots of stories beforehand, and again we will need people willing to be interviewed, both for press and TV, radio etc. Volunteers, of all identities and who can speak in various languages are needed for this. Please write in with what you're willing to do!
People who have volunteered so far:
Zahid (hindi/urdu)
Sunil (hindi)
Udit
Mayur
Anand
Amelie
Lesley (to be asked)
Ponni (to be asked - hindi, english, print and broadcast interviews)
Rajesh
Other Publicity:
Leafleting:
- Writing the leaflet -- Mayur and Gautam Bhan. Will send it to the list for commentary.
- Translating: HINDI: Ritu, Aaditya, PUNJABI: Kunal, URDU: Zahid, Aarti
- Printing: NIrantar might do the printing.
- Distribute: Kunal, Rajesh.
- Kunal had offered to put leaflets into newspapers in East Delhi. There was a lot of enthusiasm for the idea initially, but we realised that many thousands of leaflets will be needed. Instead, leaflets will be distributed in the areas that are least likely to hear about the queer pride through other means.
Zahid: Jamia, various hijra groups.
Kunal: East Delhi
Sita: Patel Nagar
More volunteers please!
Posters:
- Content: Mayur and Pavi
- Printing: Approximately 1000. Mohnish, Zahid, Amit
- Distribute: hire someone to plaster the city
Listings in Press:
FIrst City: Mohnish, Aarti,
Time Out: Shalini
Regional Languages: Zahid, Kunal, Ritu,
Wire Agencies: Aaditya, Mohnish
At the Parade:
Various things were suggested last time, and there was further discussion about them.
Flag: Two large 10m flags this time, instead of one -- each costs Rs. 800 -- plus 20 smaller flags, about 1m wide. Mohnish to arrange for all flags.
Masks, Hand flags, Badges: Mohnish to organise and email about costs. More feathered masks this time, since the others were a little small for some people.
Stickers: decided to do away with them this time, in favour of badges.
Shadi ka band: Aarti will find out how much it will cost and email the info.
Tshirts: Aarti suggested letting people pre-order shirts online and manage the costs that way. She and Mohnish will get different quotes for the price of printed shirts and email in.
Float: Opinion was divided about the floats.
Option 1: A large float, big enough for people to stand, dance on, make announcements from, etc pulled by an auto or motor driven. Some people felt that it would be exclusionary and make it all about who got to stand on the float etc.
Option 2: Some sort of banner or archway mounted on a thela or auto, that becomes a part of the parade but does not have people on it.
Option 3: No float.
Aarti will find out about the police permission needed for both these types of floats.
Amit will get the details about how to organise it and what the likely costs are.
Nukkad Natak: will be held at Jantar Mantar at the end of the parade.
Dhols: Someone please figure out the arrangments for this.
Stage, Mics etc at Jantar Mantar: Ditto
Whistles: Ditto.
Balloons: Ditto.
Confetti: Ditto.
Water: Ditto
Suggestions were made to distribute condoms and flyers about queer issues (eg: section 377), as is common at Pride events in the west. Various NGOs might be willing to do this, while the government might be willing to help with the condoms. It was pointed out that distributing condoms is quite gendered and also revives the association of homosexuality with HIV/AIDS and disease. FInally it was decided that since Delhi Queer Pride isn't associated with any organisation, individual people are free to hand out items, but neither the planning group nor other organisations will take responsibilty for it.
Last year, some disparaging comments were made by participants in the parade about transgender and hijra participants. It needs to be made clear that this is not acceptable.
Emergency and contingency plans:
March stewards: Volunteers are needed to be at the parade, and be responsible for handing out water, emergency first aid, and keep the parade together. So far, Rituparna has volunteered. Others?
Negative reactions: There was some concern that people might oppose the parade, possibly with violence. What should we do to prepare for that? It was decided that since we have to ask the police for permission in any case, and they were out in force last time, it is their responsibility to check any violence. Also, as of now, there haven't been any threats of any kind.
Money:
Rs. 700 was raised at the last meeting.
Rs. 151 was collected at this meeting.
More donations will be coming in, so volunteers are needed to collect and keep the money safely. Need to solicit money!
Akash and Shalini are collecting funds. Others?
Since there is no official bank account for this, ppl donating via cheques or from abroad etc should transfer money to a friend's bank, who can hand it over in cash to the people collecting.
Post-Parade and Fundraising parties:
Last year, funds were used to pay for the DJ and some of the party supplies. Is that ok with everyone?
Should we have a small admission fee for the party to cover these costs? Various people are going to write in with their opinions and ideas on this issue.
Various people suggested venues and ideas for fund-raising parties -- again, please write in with the details!
Need to have more participation of the hijra community into the Queer Pride planning. People from the Naz Foundation, Pahal and Mitr Trust volunteered to bring representatives from several hijra groups to the planning meetings. This should be done please.
Please email the estimated costs for everything by next week!!
Next Meeting: 23rd May, 6 pm.