Mooknayak 2025: Annual literary festival of LGBTIQ community to be held tomorrow

Bindumadhav Khire, director, Bindu Queer Rights Foundation, and who supports LGBTIQ community through various activities said that there was a need for a platform for emerging writers from the community. The literature festival now has seen the presence of several experts, Khire said.

The fourth edition will feature a series of sessions, including discussions on the representation of LGBTIQ individuals in newspapers, and a session called ‘Fraudulent Gay/Transgender Holy Men and Women: Extortion and Superstitions’, among others.

On the occasion Khire’s book Rainbow Nests – Gay Relationships in India will be launched. The book features interviews of some same-sex couples to highlight the immense efforts they take to build their nests against all odds in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s judgment of 2023 where it refused to legalize gay marriage.

“In a society, which is yet to come to terms with the fact that same-sex couples deserve the same dignity, respect and rights as heterosexual couples, the interviews cover a rich diversity of couples coming from different castes, religions, states, HIV serostatus and so on,” Khire added. The book is also currently being translated to Marathi under the name ‘Tumcha Amcha Same Same Asta’ and will be released in 2026.

Shrikant Deshpande former Chief Election Officer of Maharashtra, and Vivek Raj Anand, CEO of The Humsafar Trust, Mumbai, will be felicitated on the occasion.

Besides, several transgender individuals pursuing higher education also be felicitated on the occasion, said Anil Ukrande, founder of Yutak Charitable Trust. One among them is Arya Pujari from Satara, who is pursuing a master’s degree in Marathi literature. Pujari is a lavani artiste and a transgender woman who aspires to become a constable and is fighting to be included in police recruitment.

Among others who will be felicitated also include Ovi Bhandalkar, a student at ILS Law College; Vaidehi Warhade, a security guard at Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and is pursuing higher studies; Amrita Dube who works in CSR at an IT firm in Kharadi; and Krushnai Bulunge who works as an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife at a hospital.