LGBTQ website introduces spreads awareness in regional languages

Breaking the myth that queer is a concept only amongst the English speaking, urban populace, a website dedicated to the LGBTQ community is now venturing into regional languages.

The website hosts content, information, statistics and data pertaining to the LGBTQ community in regional languages. A website dedicated to the LGBTQ community, named QKnit has started writing stories, including coming out stories, events LGBTQ film festival reviews, and many other events related to the community in regional languages.

Their aim, they say, is to reach an audience beyond the elite class, to educate, and spread awareness among the non-English speaking audience from the LGBTQ community in a language that they are well versed with and can relate to.

One of the recent coming out stories on the website was that of a gay written in Gujarati. "Why go far? We, in a city like Mumbai also have a lot of people who cannot read proper English. But they are fluent and well versed with regional languages. A language should never be a barrier between information and the person who needs to know it," said Sumit Pawar, founder of QKnit.

In 2015, what started as a YouTube video site, almost a year ago, took the shape of a proper website. Earlier, most content on the website was only available in English. This week, Pawar posted on LGBTQ friendly pages on social media, the requirements for volunteers, who will write and translate content in regional languages, especially in Bengali and Tamil.

The portal currently posts information and content regarding the latest happenings of the LGBTQ community. The group also organises one initiative every month that will benefit the community at large. This month, they undertook a cloth bag distribution event in local trains running between CSMT to Dadar, and then Dadar to Churchgate. The bags had the message of asking people to consider revoking section 377.

Apart from putting information in regional languages, the group is planning to produce content in English-Hindi or Hinglish, which has become the norm. The group thinks information and awareness is the key to have a well aware community and thus the emphasis is on having content in regional languages.

A NOBLE CAUSE

• The group, QKnit, is planning to produce content in English-Hindi or Hinglish, which has become the norm today
   
• The group thinks information and awareness is the key to have a well aware community