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Witness History: Gay activism in 1990s India

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Gay activism in 1990s India

06/08/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, Gay activism in 1990s India

Pawan Dhall helped form the Counsel Club, one of India's first gay support groups

Pawan Dhall was one of the founding members of the Counsel Club, one of India's first gay support groups, formed in Kolkata in the early 1990s.

In the early 1990s, when homosexuality was still a criminal offense in India, a group of gay men and lesbian women set up the Counsel Club in the city of Kolkata. It was one of the first queer support groups in India. Their first meetings took place in secret at the home of one of the members. Later, the group campaigned for gay rights in India and helped other gay people with family problems or anxieties over coming out. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Pawan Dhall, one of the club's founding members.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw

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