about mingle
DESCRIPTION
A brief about India's fastest growing network of LGBT friends and allies.TRANSCRIPT
M ISSION FOR INDIAN G AY & L ESBIAN EMPOWERMENT—MINGLE
Mingle : An Introduction
A brief about India‘s fastest growing network
of LGBT activists and allies
List item here.
List item here.
List item here.
List item here.
Histories are made when people
come together..!
Website: www.mingle.org.in
Email: [email protected]
M INGLE
M ISSION FOR INDIAN G AY & L ESBIAN EMPOWERMENT—MINGLE
Mingle : Who We Are
Mingle (Mission for Indian Gay & Lesbian Empowerment), the first of its kind in India, is a
Gay and Lesbian non-profit think-tank and advocacy group consisting of academicians,
students and professionals from fields as diverse as the Arts and Sciences, Journalism,
Law, Medicine, Management and Engineering.
Vision
A truly liberal and pluralistic India where all citizens enjoy their fundamental right to lead a
secure and dignified life irrespective of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Mission
To create within the LGBT community an awareness of their legitimate rights.
To create an identity for the LGBT community and organise them into an agent for positive
change.
To bring the issue of Gay Rights to the centre stage for a national debate.
To direct the Government of India, through judicial, political and social means to do away
with all such precepts of law that discriminate against LGBT people.
Values
Acceptance of diversity both within and outside the LGBT community.
Pride in individual identity.
Zest for change.
Fostering learning, creativity and team work and unity.
Histories are made when people
come together..!
Website: www.mingle.org.in
Email: [email protected]
M INGLE
M ISSION FOR INDIAN G AY & L ESBIAN EMPOWERMENT—MINGLE
Mingle : The work we do
Educational Outreach
Mingle, with the help of its dedicated group of volunteer educators,
reaches out to families, educational institutions, and the corporate
sector, with the goal of furthering the cause of equality and inclu-
siveness.
For family members, we prepare and distribute educational brochures and films in various
Indian languages, organize group meetings to sensitize parents and other family members
towards who the LGBTs are, and why they should stand by their gay children and siblings.
We also reach out towards India‘s major educational institutions and corporate groups,
with a concerted programme to convince them to give greater impetus to LGBT inclusive-
ness in their campuses and offices across India.
Info-Activism
Mingle collects data and information about LGBT people in India
through its surveys in educational institutions and work places, and
uses the data effectively, with the help of our statistical analysts, to
present a clearer picture of the present nature of the issues faced by
our community and how they affect the effectiveness of our educa-
tion, the productivity of our businesses, and a healthy family life.
Our Focus Areas
Mingle has seven focus areas that we base our projects and cam-
paigns upon: They are Families of LGBTs, Health, Legal Issues, Relig-
ion & Faith, Transgender issues, Workplace Diversity & Inclusion and
Youth & Campus Activism.
Following pages will give you a brief introduction to our work so far in
the above mentioned areas.
Histories are made when people
come together..!
Website: www.mingle.org.in
Email: [email protected]
M INGLE
M ISSION FOR INDIAN G AY & L ESBIAN EMPOWERMENT—MINGLE
Mingle : Our initiatives
Break the Glass Closet: Companies across the
globe are fast realizing the importance of creat-
ing inclusive workplaces for their LGBT employ-
ees. But how does one go about it? Especially
in Indian offices? How do we deal with the
unique challenges that this segment brings?
Mingle understands the concerns of organizations on this issue and offers them free of
cost consultancy on LGBT Diversity and Inclusion. The content of it includes interactive
sessions, workshops, meetings and presentations, etc with our professional and experi-
enced consultants. We customize as per the organization‘s needs and concerns.
LGBT History Certification Course: In Mingle‘s
most ambitious project till now, we have
launched India‘s first LGBT History Certification
Course. The course itself is free of cost, and the
content has been developed by a team of pro-
fessionals and students who‘ve archived a co-
lossal volume of data in the form of books, articles and research papers. The course can
be taken by anyone who registers on our site. One can choose between online or printed
materials. Those who successfully complete the course are provided with a Certificate and
a small gift from the Mingle team.
Legal Support Cell for LGBT Indians
Though Section 377 has been read down, dis-
crimination against LGBT citizens is a legal am-
biguity. We understand the difficulties of LGBT
Indians with these issues and why they may be
hesitant to seek legal recourse without prior
knowledge. Mingle provides them with the op-
portunity of free legal counseling before taking
any court action.
Histories are made when people
come together..!
Website: www.mingle.org.in
Email: [email protected]
M INGLE
M ISSION FOR INDIAN G AY & L ESBIAN EMPOWERMENT—MINGLE
Mingle : Our initiatives
The Coming Out Project, is a unique initiative
where LGBT people and their families have come
together to create a series of publications and
videos dealing with acceptance of gays and lesbi-
ans within Indian families. This includes a series
of Coming Out guides for LGBT youth and their families and friends.
Ghar Ghar Jayen-Gay is the first of its kind out-
reach program in India on part of the gay commu-
nity where trained volunteers from Mingle talk
and interact with common people in different
Indian cities to discuss LGBT issues and sensitize
them to the needs and concerns of the commu-
nity, and why the LGBT cause should matter to all.
Annual Workplace and Campus surveys Mingle‘s
surveys at India‘s corporate workplaces as well as
college and university campuses are the first such
initiatives in India that have over the last one year
brought out the issues of harassment, discrimina-
tion and homophobia to the public sphere. Univer-
sity bodies and Human Resource managers at top
companies have woken up to the issue of LGBT
inclusion and are constantly engaging with Mingle
on the issue.
The first annual Campus survey report was released in July 2011 and the first Workplace
Diversity and Inclusion survey report was launched in February 2012. These surveys are
now regular features which will help us keep track of the progress being made.
Histories are made when people
come together..!
Website: www.mingle.org.in
Email: [email protected]
M INGLE
M ISSION FOR INDIAN G AY & L ESBIAN EMPOWERMENT—MINGLE
Mingle : Our initiatives
Our Publications: Mingle‘s various publications include Workplace Inclusion & Diversity
Survey report, the Youth & Campus survey report, Coming Out guides, Legal Assistance
Guide, Faith based guide on LGBT issues and Safe-sex campaign posters.
All publications are made available on the website for download and free print copies can
be ordered by sending an email to [email protected]
Our publications and annual reports along with our monthly Newsletter ―Equality Today‖
are a good way of staying in touch with the work we‘re doing and the projects we plan for
the future.
Our Public Campaigns: Mingle has conducted public campaigns
on issues that are important to the LGBT community. Recently it
did a public awareness campaign on safe-sex that included post-
ers which were distributed through community groups and online
campaigning through the social media. Currently, we‘re working
on a video campaign promoting LGBT equality in India which will
be released by April 2012.
Histories are made when people
come together..!
Website: www.mingle.org.in
Email: [email protected]
M INGLE
M ISSION FOR INDIAN G AY & L ESBIAN EMPOWERMENT—MINGLE
Mingle : The People involved
The Advisory Board of Mingle consists of some well known names in the field of LGBT
advocacy in India:
Ashok Row Kavi (Advisor, Health Issues) is Chairperson of The Humsafar
Trust, the oldest gay community based organization, registered in Mumbai
as a Male Sexual Health CBO.
Anjali Gopalan (Advisor, Legal and Health issues), the Founder and Execu-
tive Director of The Naz Foundation (India) Trust, an NGO dedicated to the
fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in India.
Arvind Narain (Advisor, Legal Issues), is Head of Alternative Law Forum,
Bangalore and one of the prominent lawyers fighting the Section 377 case
in the Supreme Court of India.
Tara Chattopadhyay (Advisor, Workplace Diversity Issues), is Head of LGBT
Resource Center, IBM India. IBM is one of the few companies that actively
promote LGBT friendly policies at its India offices.
Harish Iyer (Advisor, Family Issues), is a rights activist from Mumbai and has
been a vocal voice for LGBT Indians.
Amara Das (Advisor, Religious Issues), is President of Gay and Lesbian
Vaishnava Association (GALVA), and has written books and articles on LGBT
issues within Hinduism and Hare Krishnas.
Rahul Sharma (Advisor, Youth and Campus Activism), is member of the
Queer Campus India Collective that has been instrumental in bringing to-
gether LGBT youth in the country‘s capital.
Aditya Bandopadhya (Advisor), is a lawyer and gay rights activist based in
New Delhi.
Stephen Golden (Advisor, Workplace Diversity Issues), is the Head of Diversity (Asia), for
Goldman Sachs and is based from Hong Kong.
Ali Potia (Advisor, Workplace Diversity Issues), is Co-Lead (Asia) of GLAM network at
McKinsey & Company, Singapore.
Histories are made when people
come together..!
Website: www.mingle.org.in
Email: [email protected]
M INGLE
M ISSION FOR INDIAN G AY & L ESBIAN EMPOWERMENT—MINGLE
Mingle : The People involved
The Core Team at Mingle:
Udayan Dhar (Project Coordinator), has more than three years of active en-
gagement with the Indian LGBT community, as the Editor-in-Chief of Pink
Pages- India‘s National LGBT magazine, and additionally over the past one
year has successfully coordinated several key projects at Mingle. He‘s pio-
neering India‘s first LGBT History Project and the ―Break the Glass Closet‖
initiative on LGBT inclusion in corporate India.
Abhijeet Yadav (City Coordinator, Delhi), works with rural and urban under-
graduate students at Dhriti as the Program Manager. As an out and proud
gay Indian, he hopes to make a difference to the struggle for LGBT equality in
India.
Sachin Avasthi (City Coordinator, Mumbai), has been an active member of
Mumbai‘s gay community by being a volunteer at the ‗Queer Azadi March‘
and the ‗Queer Film Festival‘. Also, he has initiated an LGBT activity group
called ‗Queer Adda‘.
Prithvi Raj (City Coordinator, Bengaluru), is a literature and psychology stu-
dent and has interned at both Sangama and Mingle previously. He‘s been
working closely with the city‘s LGBT community by organizing educational
seminars and support groups for gays and transgenders.
Kshitij Bansal (Legal Counsellor), is a law student at Rajiv Gandhi National
University of Law, Punjab. He is a regular columnist for the Indian newspaper
Daily Post and an African newspaper Insight. He would be heading the five
member Indian delegation as Head of State at G 20 Youth Summit to be
held at Washington DC this year. He is associated with a number of research
projects including ones with Ministry of Finance, Institute of Dalit Studies and Liberty Insti-
tute.
Gaurav M (Chief Technical Officer), is a web developer and designer with
four years of expertise in his field where he has developed over 50 websites.
He‘s recently started his own firm Six Pixels that provides software solutions
and web development at discount prices specifically for LGBT friendly busi-
nesses.
Histories are made when people
come together..!
Website: www.mingle.org.in
Email: [email protected]
M INGLE
M ISSION FOR INDIAN G AY & L ESBIAN EMPOWERMENT—MINGLE
Mingle : Join hands with Us
PARTNER AS AN ORGANIZATION:
At Mingle, the work we do, and have in store for us in the months and years ahead is
huge. The cause for LGBT equality has only made baby steps in the country so far and the
battle lies ahead in court rooms, school and college campuses, corporate offices, in our
living rooms and the hearts and minds of a billion Indians– both gay and straight.
We understand that the Himalayan nature of the challenge makes it impossible for any
one indivual or group to take it up. Therefore we constantly look for partnership with other
organizations in meeting the requirements.
As an organization, you can join our cause in several ways:
Become a sponsor: As a corporate sponsor, supporting our various projects and public
activities will give your organization a general exposure as a supporter of LGBT equality.
Your logo will appear in our publications, banners and website.
Help us in our Projects: You can do this by sending in your representatives at our events
as speakers, arranging logistics and helping with general event management.
Let Us help you: Every single session that we take in an organization– whether it‘s a gen-
eral talk on LGBT issues, or specifically with reference to workplace inclusion, it gives us a
greater exposure and understanding of the factors that make a difference in the lives of
gay and lesbian Indians everyday. Therefore, just by the simple act of opening your doors
to us, you‘re doing us a favor too– and of course in due process to your organization and
the gay and straight people in it.
If you‘re an LGBT community organization: In every city we‘re looking for partner LGBT
groups that can help us in distribution of free materials, taking and conducting surveys
and most importantly in helping us understand the issues that matter locally in your com-
munities. By partnering with Mingle, you‘ll join hands with India‘s unique national-level
initiative on LGBT rights and we‘ll make sure we can help your initiatives in every way that
we can—both financially and through our experience.
For any of the above actions, write today to [email protected] or visit our website
www.mingle.org.in
Histories are made when people
come together..!
Website: www.mingle.org.in
Email: [email protected]
M INGLE
M ISSION FOR INDIAN G AY & L ESBIAN EMPOWERMENT—MINGLE
Mingle : Join hands with Us
BECOME A PART OF THIS NATIONAL STRUGGLE FOR LGBT EQUALITY IN INDIA
As our member or supporter, you‘ll be advocating for equal rights and benefits in the work-
place, ensuring gay people are treated equally under the law and increasing public sup-
port for fairness among all Indians.
So take the first step by becoming a part of our community and get involved in the follow-
ing actions.
Donate Help us reach out to gay youth, families, educational institutions
and corporate bodies and expand our free LGBT resource center.
Work With Us The work we‘ll do is enormous, and we need every helping
hand possible. So if you are willing to volunteer your time and effort for
this cause, join us today!
Sign Up for email Alerts Keep yourself updated with the latest reports and
activities from Mingle
Participate in our Surveys Help us understand issues better. Give us a few
minutes of your time and answer a short questionnaire that is relevant to
you.
Sign a petition Support our causes. Sign a petition and force the people in
power to sit up and listen.
Connect Online Connect with us through Social Networks and other online
media
Tell a friend Spread the word! Tell your friends and family about Mingle
For any of the above actions, write today to [email protected] or visit
our website www.mingle.org.in
Histories are made when people
come together..!
Website: www.mingle.org.in
Email: [email protected]
M INGLE