About Chamak

The landscape in 2026 shares some of the challenges found in 2016 when we were forming the idea of Gaysians. But we believe what’s needed now has evolved from digital solutions. Today’s world and especially our communities desire physical products that can be free from censorship, erasure, AI theft and can be protected and passed on to the generations to come. 

According to the 2021 Census, Asians make up 9.3% of the UK population, making us the largest ethnic minority population in the UK at 5.5 million people. A total of 1.5million people or 3.2% of the population identified as LGBTQ+ in the 2021 UK Census. However only 1.4% of British Asians identified as LGBTQ+ in the same census. This is not because few of us are LGBTQ+, it is because we lack the safety, visibility, support and community to come out.

Visibility and storytelling are huge components of our work and hence Chamak will serve as a physical photo book featuring the images and stories of 50 South Asian lesbians, non-binary and trans people all over the world and especially in India where new anti-trans legislation has been passed this year. 

Chamak means to shine or glow (Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu) and the project is a celebration of queer women, non-binary and trans people who will see themselves reflected and tell their stories in interviews with Rain Reeta Loi.

We will use this project to educate the world on the wide variety of trans and gender-fluid identities that have existed in the Indian Subcontinent for centuries through the people themselves. Chamak is our gift to the world and the generations ahead of us.

A percentage of sales will go to Sappho for Equality, an organisation in India supporting queer, trans and non-binary people assigned female at birth to find safety, mental health support and shelter.