Each June, the world blooms just a little brighter — not simply in color, however in braveness. Throughout India, from sun-dappled coasts to bustling metropolis squares, Pleasure Month will not be merely a celebration; it’s a reminder. A reminder that love, in all its kinds, deserves to be seen, heard, and cherished.
However past the rainbow flags and joyous marches lies one thing even deeper: the quiet energy of belonging. For somebody taking their first tentative steps out of the closet, or an ally wanting to pay attention and be taught, these gatherings are greater than occasions — they’re lifelines. They’re the place tales are shared, arms are held, and futures are rewritten, one hug, one music, one march at a time.
This June, whether or not you’re a part of the LGBTQIA+ group or a steadfast ally, right here’s your invitation to be a part of one thing larger. From movie festivals to artwork exhibitions, Pleasure in India is looking — not simply to have fun, however to attach, to heal, and to construct a future that holds area for everybody.
Listed below are seven occasions the place you could find that spark — and possibly, in probably the most sudden of moments, end up.
1. Step into tales that replicate and encourage
KASHISH Mumbai Worldwide Queer Movie Competition
On the coronary heart of Mumbai’s tradition scene, KASHISH is greater than a movie pageant — it’s a sanctuary for tales. Right here, movies develop into mirrors and home windows: mirrors reflecting the group’s lived realities, home windows opening to worlds of braveness, hope, and pleasure.
The sixteenth version will characteristic over 130 movies from 45 nations, with workshops, panel discussions, and uncommon moments to meet the filmmakers who’re reshaping what queer narratives appear like. Opening with Daniel Craig’s Queer and shutting with Elliot Web page’s Near You, KASHISH 2025 guarantees tales that stick with you lengthy after the credit roll.
- The place: Cinepolis, Andheri West & Alliance Française, Marine Traces, Mumbai
- When: 4 to eight June 2025
- Extra Particulars: Click on right here
A month-long lineup of occasions by New Delhi LGBTQIA+ Centre
In a world that too typically asks queer people to shrink or keep silent, the New Delhi LGBTQIA+ Centre, powered by the Naz Basis, presents one thing easy but radical — an area to only exist, precisely as you might be. This June, as Pleasure Month colors the capital with hope and chance, they’ve put collectively a line-up of occasions that transcend celebration, creating area for reflection, progress, connection, and therapeutic.
From intimate help teams for asexual, aromantic, transgender, and non-binary people to Concern of the Queer — a workshop collection for therapists — each gathering is a reminder that Pleasure will not be a second; it’s a motion.
Look out for Crystal Queer, a night of garments swaps and open mics, and the TransMasc Help Group, providing quiet affirmation for voices typically unheard. Artwork talks, movie screenings, and guide launches weave a bigger tapestry of resistance and pleasure.
- The place: New Delhi LGBTQIA+ Centre, Naz Basis, New Delhi
- When: Occasions unfold throughout June 2025
- For extra particulars, get in contact right here.
3. Empower queer-led companies
Sidecar Means Enterprise: Pleasure Version
Pleasure isn’t solely about marching — generally, it’s about constructing.
This June, Sidecar India is popping their cosy Delhi café into an area the place queer-owned companies can shine. It’s not only a market; it’s a spot to satisfy the individuals behind the concepts, hear their tales, and have fun every little thing it takes to construct one thing daring and true. Each stall, each product has just a little little bit of braveness stitched into it — and also you’re invited to be a part of it.
- The place: Sidecar, M Block Market, GK 2, New Delhi
- When: 22 June 2025, 1 PM – 4 PM
- For extra particulars, get in contact right here.
4. Have a good time braveness and native pleasure
Preetiya Habba 2025: Workshops and reside music performances
Some occasions really feel much less like gatherings and extra like homecomings — and Preetiya Habba is considered one of them.
This vibrant fundraiser in Bengaluru, organised by Coalition of Intercourse Employees’, Sexual & Gender Minority Rights (CSGMR), Karnataka, brings collectively queer-owned and queer-made companies, reside performances, workshops, meals, music, and most significantly, group. However past the colors and celebration, it’s about constructing one thing larger: supporting the Karnataka Swabhimana Habba, a pleasure rooted in native resistance and pleasure.
Come for the music and flea markets, keep for the sensation of standing shoulder to shoulder with a group writing its future — with pleasure, braveness, and a complete lot of affection.
- The place: Bangalore Artistic Circus, Bengaluru
- When: 14 June 2025, 11 AM – 8 PM
- For extra particulars, get in contact right here.
5. Inform your story with only a cellphone
OUTFrame 2025
Everybody has a narrative — generally all you want is a cellphone and just a little braveness to inform it.
OUTFrame 2025 is a three-day residential workshop the place queer voices take the director’s chair. Hosted by the Keshav Suri Basis, this distinctive programme invitations contributors to create, shoot, and edit their very own movies utilizing simply their cell phones. Led by filmmaker Tushar Tyagi, it’s not only a workshop — it’s an opportunity to show lived expertise into artwork.
Three days of dreaming, filming, creating — the place your voice shapes the story.
- The place: The Lalit Suri Hospitality College, New Delhi
- When: 7 to 9 June 2025
- For extra particulars, get in contact right here.
6. Discover connection past romance
Pace-dating meet (on-line)
Not each significant relationship needs to be romantic, and this Pleasure Month, Platonicity is creating area for one thing simply as highly effective: platonic and non-romantic connections.
This on-line speed-dating fashion occasion welcomes friendships, queerplatonic relationships, and marriages of comfort (MOCs) — reminding us that love can appear like so many alternative issues. It’s an area to satisfy, swap tales, and possibly discover the form of companionship that feels excellent, with out the stress of romance.
Generally what we’d like most isn’t a date — it’s somebody who merely will get it.
- The place: On-line (be part of from anyplace!)
- When: 22 June 2025, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM IST
- For extra particulars, get in contact right here.
7. Specific your self freely by means of trend!
Generally the best act — getting dressed — is usually a quiet revolution.
Put on Your Reality is an area the place garments don’t have any labels, make-up has no gender, and there aren’t any “opposites” — solely what feels proper to you. Hosted by Vikalp in Vadodara, this gathering invitations you to convey your garments, make-up, equipment, and most significantly, your genuine self.
Born from listening to the trans group about feeling unseen, this occasion guarantees a celebration of expression in its freest, most affirming kind. No containers, no binaries. Simply you.
- The place: Vikalp, E 5, Saptgiri Duplex, Akota, Vadodara, Gujarat
- When: 14 June 2025, 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM
- For extra particulars, get in contact right here.
8. Share the tales that formed you
Ebook membership meet-up
Books have at all times been protected areas — locations the place so many people first discovered reflections of ourselves.
This July, the Delhi Queer Areas (DQS) Lit Membership is inviting you to have fun that magic, offline and in individual. Out, Loud & Proud — their first-ever offline meet-up — guarantees a day of books, dialog, and group. Convey a guide meaning one thing to you, be part of enjoyable Lit-Combine actions, swap tales over espresso, and take heed to a heart-to-heart hearth chat with queer writer Soumojit Paul.
It’s not simply in regards to the books — it’s in regards to the tales we stock, and the connections we construct once we share them.
- The place: LGBTQIA+ Centre, East of Kailash, New Delhi
- When: 6 July 2025, 12 PM – 4 PM (Although this occasion is in early July, its coronary heart beats with Pleasure Month’s spirit.)
- For extra particulars, get in contact right here.
Edited by Vidya Gowri
