What It Takes to Wear Your Pride in 2019

The Supreme Court may have killed Section 377 with its historic verdict in 2018, but homophobia is still alive and well. Say the word ‘queer’ on social media or in a public space and the trolls will come crawling out of the works to try and kill your spirit. Through it all, the LGBTQ community has shown incredible resolve to continue raising its voice and silencing the bigots. Artists, poets, writers, filmmakers who belong to the community have not hesitated in coming out and asserting their identity, and celebrating it through their art.

Take Priyanka Paul for instance, a 20-year-old queer poet and artist who is subject to relentless trolling for fearlessly speaking out on behalf of the community. Her art, striking in its portrayal of the Indian queer identity has inspired many, and Paul is a huge inspiration to all those who believe that people are so much more than their sexuality. Dripping with defiance, she tells us, "To some people, just my bare existence is ‘offensive’. It’s because we see queer people as aliens, that it’s easy to command this hatred upon them. We’ve always been here, people just refuse to see us. I’m tired of trying to make myself smaller, to be convenient to others and I no longer will live a smaller life. I’m unapologetically me. Make what you will of that."

In the same vein of celebrating oneself through empowering people, there’s Sushant Divgikr—model, actor, singer and video jockey. With his fabulous drag avatar Rani-Ko-He-Nur, Divgikr has found himself a place internationally inspiring many others to embrace their identity as a whole. He can often be found owning his drag avatar and crushing bigotry under his six inch heels at your local nightclub.

But while our privileged spaces may seem to be growing more accepting, there's a long way to go and it's important to keep the fight for equality alive. As one study found, the share of those who think that homosexuality is “always justifiable" is just 3.5 percent, and the majority of Indian views remain averse in their views of the queer community.

In such an environment, it isn't easy to put your identity out there, knowing that it will be met with backlash. What does it take, then, to keep moving, keep creating? "Haters and bigots—I turn them faceless and voiceless. It’s their loss that they are incapable of love and acceptance,” says national award-winning filmmaker Onir, whose film My Brother… Nikhil was one of the very first queer narratives in mainstream Hindi cinema. Onir continues to challenge perceptions and push boundaries through the stories he tells. His belief is, he tells us "to focus on the “more” in you and find the inner beauty instead of paying heed to the negativity."

There are also collectives like the Aravani Group, based out of Bengaluru, which have been making a difference using art that shakes up your conscience. Through visual arts and socially inclusive experiments, the group celebrates the transgender community, proving once again that love wins.

These unique stories, small everyday battles that build up to a collective of being more than your sexuality, all come together in Levi’s latest #ProudToBeMore campaign—an ode to these inspiring members of the LGBTQIA+ community. It shows us how the community contributes so much to the art world, and brings us so many different narratives, going beyond the public perception of being a queer person. True to the campaign thought that emphasises on the lifestyle, Levi’s empowers these artist and the queer community at large to live fearlessly. A rallying call to all artists, poets, performers, lovers and friends irrespective of gender, sexuality, caste, #ProudToBeMore reminds us why it’s important to tell these stories and bring them to the mainstream, to shout it from the rooftops and let the world know: There’s so much more to being queer.

Follow VICE on Twitter.