GayBombay is an informal organisation based in Mumbai, India, the stated objective of which is to create safe spaces for the gay community to meet and interact. Started in 1998, GayBombay has been regularly organizing meets, parties, film screenings, treks, picnics and workshops.

History

The Early Phase (1998-2001)

GayBombay was started at a time when the gay scene in Mumbai had gone underground as a result of a police raid on a beach house party at Madh Island. Though the raid did not result in large scale arrests, it received considerable amount of publicity in the national press. The city’s gay community was unnerved, especially given the fact that homosexuality was then a criminal offense in India.

It was against this backdrop that GayBombay came into being. Started a web-site in 1998, GayBombay moved to organising social meets and movie outings. In 2000, GayBombay organised its first party, signalling the resurgence of Mumbai’s gay social scene, which had been in the doldrums for many years.

The Growth Phase (2001-2009)

GayBombay soon began organising parties in places that were considered the trendiest discos in town. This period coincided with an economic boom that saw the numbers swell. Entry to a GayBombay party entailed a cover-charge averaging at around $10 (500 rupees), which was by no means cheap by Indian standards. But Mumbai, like may other cities in India, was witnessing a information-technology enabled boom.

Young people had money to spend and they were spending it on GayBombay parties. GayBombay uses the surpluses from the parties to fund a range of other events, such as film club screenings, meets and workshops, which are free. GayBombay also organises day treks and picnics to places nearby Mumbai and occasional trips to Water Parks and movies, which attracts a crowd that is usually not seen at parties.

The Maturity Phase (2009 – Present)

In 2009, the Delhi High Court de-criminalised homosexuality in India. GayBombay celebrated the landmark judgment with a cut-rate party at a night club called Karma, one of its most popular venues. Meanwhile, several cities in India, organised annual Gay Pride Parades. Mumbai was one of them with the large participation of gay men, women and other alliance partners and supporters.

GayBombay, with its expertise in parties, would organise the post-pride march party. As society has changed, GayBombay too has been changing. Many of the original founders have moved on and been replaced by a different set of people. And as time has passed, Mumbai has seen the emergence of several other groups which organise events for the gay community.

On 6th September, 2018, the Supreme Court of India stated that consensual sexual acts between adults cannot be a crime, deeming the prior law “irrational, arbitrary and incomprehensible.” This was a huge step forward for the LGBTQ community and the dynamic for the revolution took a vibrant turn. In its wake, GayBombay continued to host its events and has been proud to be such an integral part of the community in the years when Section 377 still held its dark sway.

Activities

Sunday Meets

The first GayBombay meets were in South Mumbai – but they shifted to Bandra more centrally located venue , so people from all over the city could commute easily. The initial venue was Bandra’s McDonald’s outlet, where it was not uncommon to get upto 30 people gathering.

The restaurant’s management finally informed the gathering that so many people could not be allowed to occupy space for long periods of time on a Sunday evening. GayBombay had to move out and one of it’s members offered to take the group to his aunt’s house nearby.

Thus started a tradition of having meets at private homes, where people could talk more comfortably. First timers too felt safer in a space in the informal setting of someone’s home. The meets discussed everything related to the gay subculture.

In 2002, the meets moved to the house of a gay couple in nearby Khar. An added benefit of these home meets were that they gave newcomers a view to gay lifestyles.

The meets moved back to the aunt’s three years later. Some meets metamorphosed into special themed meetings, on relationships, STD, financial planning, where GayBombay’s resident experts chaired.

Two of GayBombay’s most popular themed events are its annual Parents Meet, attended by parents of LGBT children and its Relationship Meet, where the focus is on long-term relationships. Each month there are two meets on regular basis – one in Bandra and the other in the far flung Eastern suburb of Thane.

Since 2016, GayBombay has also given a platform to the siblings of the LGBTQ community, hosting its annual Siblings Meet in the month of September.

Parties

GayBombay’s first party took place at a private home, but given the size of Mumbai’s apartments, the number of guests were limited.

GayBombay’s first large scale party was organised in an old studio in Mahalaxmi in 2000. With memories of the Madh Island police raid still fresh, GayBombay went to great lengths to keep the party low key. The venue was a closely guarded secret and attendees were required to meet at the nearest rail station, from where the organisers would bring them to the venue. The first few parties were free, with GayBombay’s founding members paying for the venue, music and food. Guests were asked to bring their own liquor.

The next breakthrough was when the parties moved into night clubs, beginning with a now extinct club called Swig, in Tardeo. Other venues included Mikanos in Parel, Razzberry Rhino in Juhu and Copa Cabana on Marine Drive. There were also a Valentine’s Day party on a boat cruising Mumbai’s harbour, which found its way into The Times of India as “one of the great ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year”.

The GayBombay New Year’s Eve party attracted as many as 800 people, not just from Mumbai, but from all over India and the world. Non-resident Indians, who generally come to India during winter, form a large contingent.

The biggest difference between GayBombay parties and the ones that had gone before was that there were no dark rooms. GayBombay still takes care to see that there is no “hanky panky” at its parties. This is in keeping with its policy of keeping its events non-sexual. Partly as a result, GayBombay has served as an ideal platform for newbies venturing into the gay world for the first time.

Film Club Screening

The very first GB Film Club screening was held in a hall at an establishment called Ayushakti Ayurved Centre in the Western suburbs of Mumbai. Excellent vegetarian lunch was served as well. Over the years more than 500 screenings have been held and nearly 1500 films screened.

After the first few screening at the Ayurved centre, GB moved to more formal theatres in small auditoriums in colleges. Now the film club screenings have become synonymous with the conference room of a college in Bandra along with piping hot samosas and tea during the break. The screenings which are held every couple of months have become immensely popular, each of which are attended by over 150 members.

Treks and Picnics

In the early days, GayBombay organised several small outings, like a trek to Lohagad, where a Tata Sumo was hired to travel and every body who participated chipped in. Daytime outings grew and became very popular, and GayBombay was soon hiring two large buses for a trek-cum picnic to Karnala Bird Sanctuary. There was a walk to Kanheri Caves in the National Park at Borivali, where a visiting gay professor from University of Oxford gave everybody the run down on the history of the place.

The first formal picnic in which all food, transport and activities at the venue were arranged for was in September 2006 to Kihim Beach, across Mumbai harbour. It was an eventful picnic with the sea turning rough and the catamaran transport being suspended for the day. The 80 picnickers were literally marooned and had to squeeze into a 60-seater State Transport bus to return back to Mumbai.

The first formal trek with certified trek guides and full use of trekking equipment was held in July 2007. The trek was initially planned for Fort Sudhagad but a delay caused by a tyre puncture and a traffic jam on the Mumbai Goa Highway necessitated a change of plans. The treks instead went to Fort Sarasgad, a tough trek tough for many first-timers. Both there forts are in the Pali Region of the Sahayadri Ghats. The Fort Sudhagad finally happened in the subsequent year.

Over the years GayBombay has had picnics to the Elephant Caves (Covered by ABC TV for their Documentary), Matheran Kelve Beach, Kashid Beach, Murud Janjira, Durshet, Khodala, Tungareshwar, Nagaon Beach, Alibaug; Kolad, Bhandardara, Silent Hills, Manor; Narpad Beach, Dahanu.

Festival Gatherings

GayBombay’s organises an event centered around flying kites in January every year, on the occasion of the festival of Makar Sankranti, a breezy period when people around the country fly kites. GayBombay’s event is organised on Mumbai’s Juhu Beach and a large number of people turn up, some of whom are good at flying kits, most of whom are there to watch the kite-flying, meet friends and enjoy the sunset.

GayBombay also celebrates the colourful festival of Holi, again at Juhu Beach, in the month of March. Thousands of people make their way to Juhu Beach on Holi, and the sea turns a bright red from the colour they wash off their bodies.

It sporadically enjoys the festival of Raksha Bhandhan as well, when the date of a Sunday Meet falls on or close to the festival.