Announcing the re-launch of India’s first *LGBT mag* *Bombay** Dost* at the hands of actress and activist *Celina Jaitley*
at *Oxford** Bookstore, Mumbai* *Miss Celina Jaitley* will release the new issue of Bombay Dost, on 16thApril 2009 at 5.30 p.m, at the Oxford Bookstore, Churchgate, Mumbai. Bombay Dost, India’s first registered gay magazine, was launched in 1990. In its earlier avatar, it connected gay people across the country, taking away the sense of isolation and disempowerment they felt, giving them hope of being able to live a full life, without stigma and discrimination. Beset by issues such as lack of advertising support and paucity of funds, Bombay Dost suspended publication in 2002. Today, it is back in a new, bolder-than-ever avatar. The bolder-than-ever tag has to do with the forthrightness with which gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) cultural expression is showcased. The magazine eschews any notion of ‘them and us’, and mirrors the inclusiveness that we would expect in a more egalitarian society. Bombay Dost targets a much larger demographic than just the urban homosexual man. For a lot of people, gay identity consists of maybe a few behavioural traits, superficial characteristics or even psychological symptoms. For many it is merely a ‘sex thing’. Bombay Dost seeks to break out of these limiting notions; it is not just about sexuality, or gender constructs, but about the people—men, women and transgender—we adore, the lives we live, the cultural experiences that shape us—everything around us. Vivek
