call it a drag but we have had kathakali and bharatanatyam performers we have had chhau and bihu performers this is continuing since our kings and queens time when the west did that suddenly we are calling it a drag but otherwise we are a country that celebrated this culture before them im not doing what the western drag queens do i wear a choli a ghagra a saree and my name is rani kohenur which has received a fantastic reception from people from all walks of lifewe are now loving fearlesslypunebased engineer rohit sharma says that before the verdict it was hard for gay couples to even step out for a date due to the harassment they faced from the police theres a big change now and people are loving fearlessly he saysdating apps continue to be one of the primary platforms through which the lgbtqia community seeks love and relationships two months after scrapping of section 377 in india tinder introduced 23 gender options for users apart from man and woman including transgender hijra pangender nonbinary transman transwoman genderquestioning intersex etcthis was a welcome move by the dating platform because a lot of queer people werent able to express themselves better on the platform earlier as a result they often ended up meeting the wrong matches or being leftswipedthis gave people the freedom to express their sexuality and find the right profiles in a more liberating and honest way it has also resulted in fighting the stigma associated with the community finding love companionship and relationships in mainstream society is still a challenge and the community is benefiting from such platforms and their new features says jaya pillai a professor of gender studies tamil nadu open universityto make swiping experiences safer for its lgbtqia users tinder has also introduced a new safety feature for members of the lgbtq community to protect them from the risk of using dating apps in nearly 70 countries where the lgbtq status still remains criminalisedokcupid too offers its users the options of 13 sexual orientations and 22 gender identities to choose from while bumble has also been fuelling conversations online with its bumblepride campaign ariellenoronha a 22yearold transwoman who is a pr professional from mumbai talks about her experience on tinder when i initially joined tinder most men i interacted with did not know i am trans basis my appearance many men swiped right and we did bond but the interactions dwindled after i came out to them which is why after a point i decided to state in my bio that i am trans to avoid the fallout and men still perceived me as beautiful if anything my matches increased and i continued to go out on many amazing dates with men who learned to accept me for me i do feel that such apps do give cisgender men more exposure to transgender women and also a space for them to sift through their attraction towards us and understand that transwomen are