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Times of India breaks new ground, opens up classifieds for LGBTQ ads

The newspaper has launched a 'Times of Pride' campaign which allows members of the LGBTQ community to place ads free for the first 3 months.

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New Delhi: On Monday morning, readers of The Times of India woke up to a full-page advertisement in the “Times of Pride” — a campaign opening up the newspaper’s classifieds to the LGBTQ community — the first of its kind in India.

“You’ve always had a place in our heart, now you have a place in our newspaper,” the advertisement read. “The Times of India presents Times Out & Proud Classifieds, a column that seeks to include the LGBTQ community as a part of society.”

The first edition of the advertisement featured 16 people looking for partners, accommodation or to make personal announcements.

For some of them, it already seems to be working.

“I had to think very hard before committing to publishing it. My dad was not very accepting (of my orientation),” Ashish Chopra, who published a classified in the paper, told ThePrint. The 24-year-old IT recruiter from Bangalore published an ad calling for “a partner who’d love me the way I am”.

“People have already reached out to me, even though the ad was published just a day ago,” Chopra said. “In a way, this is better than a dating app because I’m talking to people I would not have talked to. On dating apps, I tend to interact with people my age, but I’ve been speaking to all kinds of people.”

For some, publishing their ads and announcements in the newspaper meant being at once vulnerable and courageous. Alizeh Khan, who also identifies as Swapnil, is a 21-year-old make-up artist looking for work. Khan put up an ad looking for any leads regarding accommodation where “I can be myself, step in and out with whoever, and wear whatever I want without judgement”.

“I’ve faced discrimination all my life, no matter where I go,” Alizeh told ThePrint. “I was so frustrated with it that when TOI asked me what I wanted to put in the ad, I said ‘a place to be free’.”

The ad comes eight months after the Supreme Court abolished Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which outlawed “unnatural” sex.

And even though in 2016, Mid Day published an advertisement seeking a groom for a gay man, TOI’s initiative, which dedicates a whole section to LGBTQ+ needs, is a first for the country.

Sanjeev Bhargava, director, Brand TOI, told ThePrint through email that the campaign was the result of “days and weeks of conversations with the members of the LGBTQ community, the straight allies, the counsellors, the activists and also those who are perplexed by this whole phenomenon”.

“What we understood and hope to address are the misconceptions about the community. Movies & TV have depicted the community as loud and somehow stereotyped them from time to time,” Bhargava said.

“Lack of information or misinterpretation of issues build barriers and trust issues. We are hoping to break the same through a whole roster of content — whether article or videos or columns and activities on the ground.”

Thumbs up from activists, community

The campaign appears to have the backing of activists and members of the LGBTQ community.

“Anything that works towards normalising queer relationships is a good thing,” said Anjali Gopalan, LGBTQ+ activist and founder of the Naz Foundation, which had spearheaded the fight against Section 377. “Publishing an ad like this, in a newspaper with a reach as wide as TOI, is a step in the right direction,” she said.

“I feel the campaign is needed at this moment where we have been given the freedom to express our sexuality,” said Maya the Drag Queen, who also identifies as Maya and Alex.

Maya, who appeared in the advertisement, feels that there is still a long way to go. “Our basic rights such as marriage equality and adoption have been denied.”

The advertisement is also in keeping with the trend of big brands, such as TOI, espousing social initiatives, said Santosh Desai, a social commentator and media expert.

“Today, brands are expected to have a point of view, not just sell a product,” Desai said. “They must now sell the idea behind the product. There is a larger shift towards ads having some kind of purpose, reflective of societal discourse,” he added.

“It’s true that our cause is used by a lot of companies and brands just so they look good,” Chopra said. “But Times has always been supportive of my work, and has reported extensively on queer events.”

Maya agreed. “I have the support of TOI since I started performing in Drag (September 2014), way before any change had happened. I only see them pushing my work forward and helping me achieve my dreams. It (the campaign) is a genuine effort to be inclusive.”

Even so, Gopalan said, more can be done. “It’s a bit concerning that the intersex community has been completely left out of this discourse,” she said. “It would be fantastic if regional language newspapers could take it forward from here. Right now, only an elite, English-speaking class have been exposed to this. It’s important that the message proliferates and is more accessible to all.”


Also read: Wanting a queer politician in India is utopic when we still consider LGBTQ people criminal


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