All donations above Rs. 500 will be shipped a copy of The Gaysi Zine.

 

The Gaysi Zine is a self-published annual print magazine. Our aim is to make ‘Queer’ a more relatable, acceptable and an empathetic concept. We bring forth stories to our readers that are powerful, emotive, and deserve to be immortalised through print.

With Issue 05, we have attempted to create a central point of reflection for queer people who actively identify, express, and live their queer desires.

This issue is making a conscious effort to visibilize the queer desires that are declared illegal and unnatural by the Indian law.  It is an honest attempt to capture the uniqueness of queer desires and experiences in India.

By uniqueness, we mean the dilemma specific to Indian queer subject, whose desire to be acknowledged in the narrative of the nation is complicated by insidious homophobia, whose language of self-definition has been confounded by the violence of colonisation and the inadequacy of terminology borrowed from the West.

In such a scenario, expressing and living one’s queer desires comes at an enormous personal risk. And uncovering such narratives of queer desires becomes a necessity for what is available right now is inadequate.

What makes us celebrate this issue is the fact that it is NOT a collection of erotic stories, nor is it boxed within the parochial perspective of sensuality and lust.  Instead, it is a very different take on queer desire – a fascinating inquiry into how our experiences shape everything from our sense of self to our perception of the world.

What emerges is the sense that queer desire isn’t something that exists in us – rather, we are the desiring queer bodies constantly evolving and discovering.

Gyasi Family was founded in 2008 as a blog for any desi identifying lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer person, anywhere around the world. Contributors as well as readership is wide spread reaching out to people in Australia, UK, France, USA, Canada and more. Since 2012 Gaysi Family has been curating and hosting events with the creative spirit in mind. Annually it hosts Dirty Talk (an Open Mic), Read Out Loud (Book Readings), 2x2 Talkies (Film Screenings), and trivia nights. The Gaysi Team is made up of Sakshi, Priya, Karishma & Anuja.

We have published four issues in the last three years. When we look back, each issue is a reflection of where we were as individuals and a collective.

Zine 1 was all about preserving certain queer voices in a tangible format, for we strongly felt that certain stories should be archived.

Zine 2 touched upon the plurality and many other engaging aspects of queer lives. We wanted to bring forth a collection that spoke loudly to all- that being queer is more than one thing, it needs to be understood in its varied ramifications.

Zine 3, we tried to create a space where the visual is not just an accessory to the narrative but is as important as the written content. We attempted to explore the idea of "queer" art in this issue, and personal designs/visuals that are further stressing on the poignant thoughts of the author. The visual extravaganza in print gave a new life to the narrative technique.

Zine 4 explored the idea of graphic stories as we felt that graphics (visuals plus texts) have the power to evoke emotions and imagery that opens a million new possibilities. It opened a realm of reimagining queer lives like never before.

We believe in creating a good quality product while keeping the retail price minimal so that it is affordable and accessible to all. The Gaysi Family is covering the costs of production and content creation, and these funds would aid in printing and logistical costs of shipping the zine to our donors and writers.