Parties, Advocacy and Activism: Interrogating Community and Class in Digital Queer India

Abstract

New media and the internet have had a significant impact on the queer community in India. From cyber-activism challenging media and political discourses on queer identity to providing a social space for interaction and dialogue (Roy 2003; Shahani 2008), they have been instrumental in the growth of the ‘marginalized’ queer community in the country. This chapter draws on and develops research on online queer communities (Campbell 2004; Mowlabocus 2010) and examines a Facebook group for queer individuals in Kolkata, India as a ‘community’. My intention in this chapter is to see how a sense of community is created and expressed and even critiqued within this specific group. Spaces such as this not only challenge institutional normativity but also offer an alternative to the NGO-led queer support model so prevalent in India. Using a Facebook group called Pink Kolkata Parties (PKP) as a case study, this chapter will be looking at the intersection and tensions between class, gender and sexuality and how that inflects our understanding of community and more largely identity. The chapter will specifically explore how the notions of a queer youth community in cyberspace circulate and the mechanisms of inclusion/exclusion that govern the dialogue and interaction within this space.