Why Indian queer podcasts need to do better

While there are encouraging signs of a boom in the business after the pandemic, the Indian queer podcast scene has a long way to go

For the longest time, the idea of a timely, relevant queer podcast in India seemed no less than a utopian dream. Not necessarily because there weren’t people in the community who could say it like it is, but in popular discourse, the conversations by queer writers and popular speakers had mostly been superficial–limited to predictable Grindr hook-up stories and not of the many intersectional issues plaguing the community.

For Barry Rodgers, a journalist, the hallmark of a good queer podcast rests on its ability to “build up the community from invisibility”. But this is all too rare in the Indian queer podcasts he has heard so far.

“A lot of time, when we talk about representation in podcasting, we usually refer to the individual on mic,” he says. “And when we look at trends and how the industry is progressing, we look at the people on mic. Do we, as listeners, dig deep enough to scan the production credits–is the team that made this piece diverse? Do they have voices from different intersections? Do the members of oppressed communities that are on the team feel empowered to say yes and no?”

Democratising language

According to Navin Noronha, whose podcastKeeping It Queerdealt with a range of issues from gay pageants to body images issues, a large section of queer podcasts based in India have an elitist streak.

“Many people are not tuning into queer podcasts because our podcasts (are popularly restricted to) are either in English or Hindi,” he says. “Even a majority of my own episodes were in English. This alienates a whole section of queer people who only understand regional languages.”

Within the queer community itself, language often becomes the sorting hat that will decide everything from who will have access to you, the circles in which you will be restricted to, and the many joys of the queer experience you will be denied. If you hail from the hinterlands possessing a thick English accent, the chances are that you will forever be relegated to just a chance hook-up – active networking and socialising will remain a distant dream.

A similar sentiment is echoed by Aditya Tiwari, who is working on a podcast with BBC Voices. “The narratives of the trans communities from rural India are hardly seen. If we’re only restricted (to the binaries of Hindi and English), we will never be able to get nuanced perspectives from the ground.”

Issues that matter

The way podcaster Priya Arora sees it, the scourge of caste will always cast a long shadow on the queer community–the elephant in the room no one will address. “Because caste also ties in with the class,” they say. “It has always been difficult to get people to open up and dissect the realities of caste.”

Arora has hosted the popular podcastQueering Desi, apart from contributing to a wide range of publications over the years, including The New York Times.

As far as the podcasts are concerned, they are also primarily concerned with discussions around the representation of queer people in media–from queer people doing queer roles to how queer characters are portrayed on screen.

“We need to have active discussions on queer representation in the media,” they say. “Even though things are changing, such as more Dalit and queer writers, a lot still needs to be done.”

Even though it caters to the diasporic Indian queer experience, Arora says that nearly 44 per cent of her listeners are from the United States, with frequent listeners even from Singapore, UAE and even Pakistan. Noronha’s podcast started slow, with under 1,000 listeners in the first few months–the number gradually increased to nearly 9,000 in the later years.

For Noronha, issues affecting the queer community on a daily basis must be widely discussed in queer podcasts. “While coming out stories are great and important, we have to move beyond them too,” he says. “We need to talk about polyamory, threesomes and orgies that are common in the community, and the dangers of STIs—all these topics must be covered in a conversational manner instead of lecturing them.”

Rodgers, for his part, believes that Indian queer podcasts often end up verging on the superficial and the banal. “They mostly discuss the number of hook-ups, the number of hours one can last on the bed, the fashion choices of celebrities, and that’s that. Where are the discussions on community stalwarts such as Grace Banu, the oppression faced by trans people in the rural areas, or how important it is to name and shame political parties who consciously work to destabilise the community?”

Beyond tokenism

When it comes to podcasts hosted by heterosexual people that have a token episode on queer people, it does more harm than good, particularly when it comes from people who might not have educated themselves in the many worlds inhabiting the queer world.

Meera Singhania Rehani, a sociology student, recounts a similar experience when she was invited to a podcast to talk about her experiences and journey as a trans woman.

“While they [heterosexual hosts] were trying to be sweet and inclusive, I couldn’t help but sense that all the questions were coming from a place of curiosity,” she says. “What is a curiosity for you is discomfort for me—it comes at the stake of my mental health. So, my old name might be a piece of information for you but how my life changed has many vulnerable and intricate details in it.”

Beyond India, queer podcasts focus on the many nuances that often get lost in such tokenistic ways. For instance, in Redneck Lesbian by Asha Hawkesworth, nothing is off-limits—the toxicity of white men or how complex the queer experience can be growing up in a conservative state. Similarly, in Gender Reveal by Tuck Woodstock, we understand the superficial and often debilitating effects of trans tokenism in cinema, why pronouns are crucial, and the oft-ignored world of queer comic books.

In the Indian context, the idea of just “ticking boxes” hardly shows solidarity, says Singhania Rehani.

“Just representation is not enough,” she adds. “Sensitivity must foreground your work. So, whether it’s podcasts or pop culture, solidarity comes with understanding how you contribute to transphobia and casteism and what you can do about it. Don’t just bank on us to earn extra woke points. Representation is just the bare minimum.”

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