What’s Mumbai’s queer history? Here's where the LGBTQiA+ community met over the years

Long before Pride there was presence Mumbairsquos queer community carved out space for itself quietly cleverly and often in plain sight They met under the cover of trees in parks signalled each other with roses at cafes and socialised in the shadows of bars that never asked questionsToday the city has Pride marches film festivals and spaces proudly claiming to be LGBTQiA friendly But Mumbairsquos legacy of queer resilience is in its nooks and cranniesGo on this heritage crawl through the streets where queer Mumbai once found its voice and enjoyed a sense of quiet liberationWith inputs from theatre director and writer Vikram Phukan whose Postcards from Colaba is a heritage walkcumperformance on queer stories conducted between October and AprilDiscreet meetingsAksa Beach File picAnurag AhireBefore queer visibility became a movement it was key to create safe pockets of the city Founded in 1995 the organisation Lesbians and Bisexuals in Action LABIA was known as Stree Sangam and their meetings were quietly orchestrated A person sitting with a red rose at a cafeacute was the secret sign If you knew you knew After initial introductions the group would often head to Aksa Beach where they could talk more freely and just beIn 1998 GayBombay one of the cityrsquos earliest and informal LGBTQiA collectives began crafting safe social spaces They met at Just Around the Corner in Bandra now Eat Around the Corner easing into conversations over coffee before transitioning to someonersquos home for deeper cultural dialogue These gatherings were intimate five to 10 people and doubled as lifelines in a time when the queer community couldnrsquot exist out loudWhere Aksa Beach Eat Around the Corner formerly Just Around the Corner BandraLegendary LibraryPiciStockYou have probably walked past the University of Mumbairsquos Fort campus In 1996 it became an unlikely backdrop to one of Indian cinemarsquos most subversive queer moments at least in public imaginationFilmmaker Riyad Vinci Wadia gave Indian cinema BOMgAY an anthology codirected with Jangu Sethna Based on poems by R Raj Rao the film is widely credited as Indiarsquos first gay film It starred Rahul Bose and the late Kushal Punjabi and stitched together six poetic vignettes of queer life in BombayThe film showcases its iconic sex scene taking place in the universityrsquos library but it wasnrsquot actually shot here However the association stuck cementing Fort Library in queer cultural loreWhere Fort Campus Library University of MumbaiTheatrewallahrsquos LegacyPiciStockStanding at NGMA itrsquos easy to imagine the defiance and brilliance of a young man who dared to stage something ahead of its time and paid the price for itBefore NGMA became the cityrsquos goto for contemporary art it played host to one of Bombayrsquos boldest and quietest queer voices Sultan lsquoBobbyrsquo Padamsee a visionary theatremaker staged Salome here in 1943 after struggling to find a venue brave enough to host its daring contentSultan was just 23 when he passed never openly gay in his time but passionately committed to making theatre that mirrored real life He seeded the English theatre movement in the city and even in death his legacy holds The Sultan Padamsee Award for Playwriting remains one of the countryrsquos most prestigiousWhere Cowasji Jehangir Public Hall Fort now NGMACauseway of lovePiciStockLong before apps and Pride parades Colaba Causeway in the rsquo80s and rsquo90s doubled as the cityrsquos first informal queer district where gay couples strolled flirted and connectedYou would find them stealing quiet moments at Apollo Bunder once called Wellington Pier cozy up in the dark while catching a movie at Regal Cinema or lounging at the nearby Cooperage Bandstand Garden swapping life stories under the canopy of trees Gokul the beloved bar opposite the Taj had its microcosm upstairs Boozy dates and sly glances includedBut the epicentre of it all was Voodoo Pub just a few doors from Radio Club Mumbairsquos first unofficial gay bar it shut in 2012 following police raids Before that in a twist of pure rock lsquonrsquo roll serendipity Led Zeppelin even played a surprise set there in 1972Where Colaba CausewayThe Bombay TalkiesPicJamaatStop here and know how one of the most successful crosscultural collaborations in cinema beganBefore Bollywood glittered in Andheri Bombayrsquos global film dreams flickered to life in a quiet Colaba lane National House was once the nerve centre of Merchant Ivory Productions a pioneering film company founded by producerdirector duo Ismail Merchant and James Ivory in 1961 Partners in business and life till Merchantrsquos death in 2005 Merchant and Ivory made 44 films together and 23 of them were scripted by Ruth Prawer JhabvalaTheir early work included Indiaset gems like Shakespeare Wallah and Bombay Talkie which starred Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kendal Later the trio moved West gifting the world Oscarwinning classics like A Room with a View and Howards EndWhere National House Tulloch Road Colaba