Rainbow Diaries

If only sex was not looked down upon, if only sexual experiences were enjoyed for what they are, if only it was ok to talk about desires and fantasies without hesitation, we would probably be a part of a non-judgemental world full of love and happiness. With some learning and unlearning, we may understand that sex can be beyond just reproduction, a system that is inclusive of pleasure, on Rainbow...

Community struggles are everywhere across the world and in Pakistan being homosexual is a crime. Imagine, how difficult would it be for them to express themselves. But some people become role models and break the boundaries that limit them to be their true selves. One of such inspirations is on our podcast this week, Moiz Muhammad a popular drag queen and comedian from Karachi, Pakistan. She is ve...

How beautiful & wonderful would it be if people started expressing their emotions, love & attraction towards you regardless of your gender. Do you think love should have no boundaries? Well, Rainbow Diaries is all about breaking these norms and boundaries that limit us in creating a lovable environment in society. You know people who identify themselves as Pansexuals are attracted to other...

Today, the generation is very smart and they have more exposure than people born during the 90s. However, During the 90s a filmmaker like Onir came forward and made movies about the LGBTQ community and HIV Aids. Onir's movie 'My Brother...Nikhil' was a hit and releasing that movie was a bold move by him because such topics are taboo even today in the Bollywood industry. Onair is working on making...

We have heard many stories of coming out from the LGBTQIA+ community. Some people had a hard time coming out and for some, it wasn't much difficult, as the parents were educated and aware of the community. But, Imagine how difficult would it be for a boy living in a small town in Bihar to come out as transgender. In today's episode of Rainbow Diaries, you will hear about Miss Transqueen India - Na...

This week Mandee and Kabir spoke to Ashok Row Kavi the first man to publicly come out as gay in India way back in 1984. During that time he saw how homosexuality was looked upon as a crime and the rights of gay men were never considered. Ashok Row Kavi is known as the mother or Gay community because he has taken care of the community as his responsibility, his contribution to finding India's First...

Just like Indian weddings are with Riti Riwaz, Mehandi, Ring ceremony this wedding was no different. Yes! We spoke to this viral Joda Supriyo and Abhay as they openly tied Knots in Hyderabad. During the lockdown, they spent a great time understanding each other and both of them discovered that they are just like any other couple and it's time they should celebrate it by marrying each other. So, li...

The rainbow flag is waving at every corner of the world as Saisha Shinde who is a transwoman and is responsible for making our Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu's gown. The same stunning gown which Harnaz was wearing at the finale and won the title of Miss Universe. Saisha has battled with tough times in her life like a boss, whether it was identifying her identity while going through bullying or makin...

This week on Rainbow Diaries, Kabir spoke to Naaz Joshi who is India's first transgender international beauty queen. Naaz was born as Aizya Joshi; at the age of 7, her family sent her to a distant relative to avoid taunts from society for her feminine behavior. Naaz went through bullying in school, she worked at dance bars and restaurants to earn a living. But she always had a spark within which l...

Since childhood, we get conditioned to distinguish roles according to people's sex or gender. Be it clothes, cooking, or wearing a pink color dress. As a result, we are not fully aware of who we are and what we like. But today things are progressing and we have someone who has set an example to be the change herself. Nirjal Basnet a.k.a Queen Andro a fashion stylist & a make-up artist who rece...

In this episode of Rainbow Diaries, we have Abhina Aher, an Indian transgender activist who works for transgender empowerment also an artist, and the founder of Dancing Queens - a dancing group of transgender people. Abhina lost her father when she was a child and her mother was the sole breadwinner of the family. Abhina hide things with her mom that she was getting bullied and sexually abused by...

This week on Rainbow Dairies we have Eshan Hilal, India's first belly dancer, performer, choreographer, and fashion model. This international Men's day we ran a campaign 'Tu Ladki Hai Kya'. Most men have been taunted with this phrase at some point in their lives. On that note, Kabir spoke to Eshan, as unfortunately, some people question his sexuality or gender, based on the stereotype that belly d...

This episode is a special one dedicated to International Men's day to break stereotypes of toxic masculinity. This international Men's day we ran a campaign 'Tu Ladki Hai Kya'.    Most men have been taunted with this phrase at some point in their lives. On that note, Mandee & Kabir spoke to Ankush Bahuguna as he emphasizes the absence of correlation between make-up and gender and oth...

In this episode of Rainbow Diaries, we have Amit Khanna who is a director, writer, film producer, actor, and a fashion photographer from Mumbai. He has made a movie called 'All about 377' that highlights issues concerning the LGBT community, especially the stigma that follows people who openly identify themselves as queer. In this episode, Amit talks about casting couch, his fight w...

Tushar Tyagi, This man reminds us of Ranbir Kapoor from the movie Tamasha. Since childhood, he was fond of listening to bedtime stories from his Naani and his imagination is quick and beautiful which helps him in making great movies. Tushar Tyagi made a movie 'Saving Chintu' a short film on LGBTQ and adoption, which also qualifies to run for Oscar 2021.  This episode talks about the port...

We have heard this in all the interviews we have done so far that everyone is looking for love but nobody is getting it. Finally, we have someone in this episode of Rainbow Diaries who has an answer to this kink. Sharif D Rangnekar is the front man of the band – Friends of Linger and author of 'Straight to Normal – My Life As A Gay Man'. Sharif came out during the 90s and he had gone t...

Marriage is about Love, Not gender. Raga and Nicola prove this statement damn right. But every love story does go through its share of dilemmas, drama, and struggles. When Raga got a divorce from her husband, she discovered and accepted that she is a Lesbian. Fortunately, she met Nicola and they have been together for 15 years. Raga's Husband has also accepted their relationship and they are raisi...

It is normal to be attracted to the same-sex and opposite gender at the same time, but unfortunately, bisexuality is looked upon as a phase of life that will pass or as Lust.    In this Episode of Rainbow Diaries, we talk about Being Bicurious and Bisexual with Sonal Giani an LGBTQIA+ activist, who was also featured in Rainbow list of 20 LGBT Role Models’ by Cosmopolitan and she ha...

Imagine a life that forces you to fake your gender Identity, where every day you have to hide who you are and what you want. We are talking about Aryan Pasha (Nyla), who was born a girl but he understood at the age of 6 that his gender identity doesn't make him feel like a girl as he wanted to be a boy. Aryan went through many hardships in life, but his passion for Body Building kept him motivated...

We all have heard about Mr. and Miss India. But in today's episode, we talk about Mr. Gay India. Anwesh Sahoo Mr. Gya India 2016 made our country proud and went on to represent India in Mr. Gay World in Europe. How does one apply for the pageant and what happens there, all in this episode of Rainbow Diaries with Mandee and Kabir.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Rainbow Dairies we have the Super Woman and a versatile personality, Vasu Primlani who is an Indian stand-up comedian, environmentalist, triathlete and a therapist. She is the only comedian in India to have received the highest Presidential honour given to a woman: the Nari Shakti award. She was a victim of CSA; she went through a hard time but today she has beaten the odds by using t...

Unfortunately, drag is misunderstood by Indian society. Many people see drag as sex work and drag queens as sex workers and some categorize them as a cross-dresser. So what exactly does being a Drag Queen mean? Well, Sanket Sawant a.k.a Gentleman Gaga who is a beautiful Drag queen artist, a fashion stylist, and a self-taught makeup artist has the answers to break these stereotypes about the art fo...

n this episode of Rainbow Diaries, we have a heart-wrenching story of Harish Iyer who is a survivor of Child Sex Abuse. Harish was 7 years old when his uncle forced him to do things that he was unaware of. After a few years Harish came out as gay but he still was not sure about his sexuality because he thought his history of CSA made him gay. The journey for Harish Iyer was tough, but he is a figh...

Drag as an art form was believed to be a western concept introduced to India, however, Alex explains that our cultural history has boasted of this rich art form for centuries. In early ages when women were not allowed to perform on stage, men used to dress up as women to indulge in this performing art. This week on Rainbow Diaries we have Alex Mathew A.k.a Maya The Drag Queen, a 33-year-old who id...

Almost all the countries where being queer is no more illegal and accepted with open arms. But, In India we are accepting it slowly however we have a long way to go as we unfortunately still have many homophobic people. In this episode of Rainbow Dairies Kabir Talks to Anish Bhagat, a social media influencer, who has been sharing clips on Instagram, capturing how his father from the Indian Army ha...