Some stories don’t get told in public. They stay locked inside, shared only in whispers — or not at all. On Sunday evening in Naharlagun, a group of people decided that needed to change.
A Space Without Judgement
‘Queers Ki Kahani – Our Voice, Our Story’, a community-driven gathering organised by AP QueerStation, was held on Sunday at Your Favourite Café in Naharlagun. Unlike a formal programme, the gathering was designed as an intimate, informal space for members of the LGBTQIA+ community to share stories, poetry, shayari, conversations and personal experiences. There were no podiums. No stage. Just people sitting together, finally being heard. The session focused on creating a space where queer individuals could speak openly about their lives without fear of judgement or criticism, with members sharing experiences of pain, loss, coming out, lack of family support, abuse and mental health struggles.
The Weight of Living in Silence
One detail from the event stood out and stayed with me. Some members had to tell their families they were attending “another programme” because they could not openly say they were coming to a queer gathering. That single line says everything about what queer people in Arunachal Pradesh still face every day — the exhausting performance of hiding who you are, even from the people who are supposed to love you most. As one participant put it, “For 365 days of the year, we navigate a cis-heteronormative society, and gatherings like these give us a rare opportunity to open up, express ourselves and simply be who we are.”
Voices, Grief and Solidarity
The informal session was hosted by Toriq Bomshok, who emphasised the importance of solidarity, respect and community support, followed by an address from Sawang Wangchha, after which several members shared their personal stories and experiences. The gathering also carried a weight of grief. It remembered community members whose lives were lost to suicide in recent months, acknowledging their lives and the grief carried by those who knew them. That moment of remembrance turned the room from a gathering into something closer to a family coming together after loss.
Safe Spaces Don’t Come for Free
Wangchha spoke about how in a deeply heteronormative society, safe spaces and rights are rarely handed to marginalised communities — they have to come together, demand them and create them. AP QueerStation has continued to work towards creating safe and inclusive spaces for indigenous queer people and the wider LGBTQIA+ community in Arunachal Pradesh through community gatherings, advocacy, storytelling, sensitisation programmes and collective action. The organisers also expressed gratitude to the owners and staff of Your Favourite Café, which has become a welcoming and safe space for many members of the queer community in Arunachal.
One Belief Holding It All Together
The community reiterated its belief — ‘Hate is a sin and love is love’ — while emphasising that solidarity and mutual respect remain at the heart of its work, with the gathering concluding on a positive note as participants shared hope for the future and a renewed sense of community. In a state where many queer people still feel completely invisible, an evening like this — small, unannounced and held in a café — might just be exactly the kind of revolution that matters most.
HASHTAGS
#QueersKiKahani #APQueerStation #LGBTQArunachal #QueerIndia #LoveIsLove #NortheastQueer #SafeSpaces #QueerStories #ArunachalPradesh #IndigenousQueer #QueerCommunity #PrideArunachal #QueerRights #MentalHealthMatters #ComingOut #QueerSolidarity #QueerVoices #HateIsASin #InclusiveSpaces #QueerNorthEast
