Bangalore has hosted film festivals on themes related to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT or Queer) communities since 2003. Although they were small events, since their transformation into The Bangalore Queer Film Festival (BQFF) in April 2009, held at the Alliance Francaise, the festivals have made Bangalore a destination for international Queer films.
BQFF 2011 is organised by Good As You (GAY), Swabhava Trust, We’re Here and Queer (WHAQ!) and Pirat Dykes.
Good As You (www.goodasyou.in) is a support group for LGBT people in Bangalore and is one of the oldest support groups in India (est. 1994). They meet every Thursday evening and host different discussions at their meetings. Thousands of people from across the world have attended GAY meetings over the last 17 years and many of the individuals working with LGBT rights and issues in Bangalore have been members in these meetings.
Swabhava Trust (est. 1999) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation working with LGBT issues, including providing access to support services in Bangalore. Swabhava hosts a telephone helpline called Sahaya which has provided counselling for LGBT people since June 2000. Swabhava is also involved in documentation, research and advocacy efforts for LGBT communities in Bangalore. Swabhava is also extensively involved in HIV and AIDS efforts through training for ICTC counsellors and NGOs working with HIV both in and outside Karnataka.
We’re Here and Queer (WHaQ!) is a queer women’s support group (estd. 2009) that provides space for queer and transgender women to discuss their concerns.
Good As You, Swabhava and WHaQ! regularly host film screenings at their space.
All the groups are non-funded and operate entirely on donations.
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