Chennai’s oldest queer collective Orinam on completing 20 years

Orinam: A pioneering queer collective in Chennai providing support, resources, and advocacy for the LGBTIQA+ community for 20 years.

Chennai is well-known for being a pioneer for many reasons, but not many are aware that it is home to one of India’s oldest LGBTIQA+ resource groups. Orinam, a pathbreaking queer collective completed 20 years recently. Started by a small group of like-minded queer individuals, the first meeting happened at an ice cream parlour in Nungambakkam in 2003.

At that time, there were many email groups and online forums where community members shared their thoughts and made friends. However, Orinam created history by offering offline spaces and support in the city through meetings and gatherings, building its network through volunteers of different age groups. From about 10 members in 2003, today, over 200 people attend events regularly and a core group of about 15 volunteers coordinate to act as peer counsellors and event organisers.

Across the years, several people have devoted their efforts and acted as core members of the collective which is funded entirely through donations. Felix S, who has been part of the journey as a chief volunteer from the first day says, “Orinam meetups were all about finding other people like yourself in the city and getting to know their journey as LGBT+ individuals in society. Queer people have a hard time fitting in and face many hurdles due to lack of social acceptance of their identities. This space provides a breath of fresh air for several members of the community who are mostly closeted.”

Over the years, the support space provided by Orinam has expanded and the collective now plays a key role in organising the Chennai International Queer Film Festival (nicknamed Reel Desires) in association with the Goethe Institut every year inAugust, as well as literary and spoken-word events through QUILT (Queering Literature) meetups.

L Sriram, another key member of the collective stresses the importance of support group meetings that are conducted every month for members of the queer community. “Even though our support group meetings have been happening for a long time, we realised how crucial it was to have them during the pandemic when many LGBTIQA+ people faced mental health issues due to lack of support at home.”

Sriram says that over the years, the conversations around queer identities involved folks younger than 18 who reached out for support. This necessitated the involvement of parents in the meetings. Pratibha and her husband Varadarajan, who reached out to Orinam to better understand their queer daughter shared their experience. “We could never figure out the issues our daughter was facing as we were not initially aware of queer identities. We randomly walked into an Orinam support group meeting and gradually found ways to accept and embrace our daughter’s sexual orientation making the journey easier for her as well as us,” says Pratibha. Presently, the couple has stepped into a new role as supportive queer parents for many youngsters in the city, opening their home and hearts for folks who lack acceptance from their biological family.

M Rajiv, who for a long time was unsure as to where he fit in the queer spectrum faced bullying for more than 10 years at his school, forcing him to withdraw from academics. He had no friends and supportive peers, which prompted him to reach out to Orinam for support. There, he found Professor Shankar Ganesan, a now-deceased queer professor who mentored him and made his parents understand his queer identity. “Many people like me die by suicide due to the lack of support from family and friends. Orinam’s meetings were life-saving because I found my chosen family there and overcame my depression and loneliness.”