BEING PROUDLY QUEER

CLOSE TO 10% OF INDIA'S POPULATION COMPRISES LGBTQIA PEOPLE, AND IT IS A $200 BILLION BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY. HOWEVER, QUEER-LED STARTUPS OR BUSINESSES CATERING TO QUEER NEEDS ARE FAR AND FEW.

- BY AJITA SHASHIDHAR

IT'S ALMOST NOON and The Trans Café, a quaint eatery in a bylane of Andheri, Mumbai, is getting ready to begin its lunch service. As restaurant manager Mahi stations herself at the entrance in a vibrant magenta sari to welcome her guests, she tells us it is popular among office-goers as it serves ghar ka khana [home-cooked food].

"Our bestseller is the thali for which we charge just ₹100. Earlier we used to only serve café food, but ever since we started serving regular Indian food our sales have spiralled," says Mahi. What is unique about The Trans Café? It is run by a team of six transgender women. Founded by the former diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) head of Pernod Ricard, Zainab Patel [a trans woman herself], in 2022, The Trans Café is already a ₹86 lakh business. Apart from the 275 sq.ft. café in Andheri, Patel’s 25-member trans women team also operate the Axis Bank’s cafeteria at its Airoli campus in Mumbai as well as Godrej Industries’ Equality Café at the Godrej Reserve campus in Kandivali, Mumbai.

Among the most marginalised minority communities, transgenders have been ostracised by society. When Mahi welcomes customers into the store, she sends an important message out to her peers—there is hope, one can live a life of dignity. “The idea is to mainstream through food and enable job seekers become job creators. Trans people are struggling to find employment, and they will not be able to get into corporates. So, the easiest way is to ride the tide of entrepreneurship,” explains Patel. After hiring these women, she also puts them through an entrepreneurship development programme that enables them to give employment to others from the community. “Be it the café in Andheri or other initiatives (she also runs the Trans Salon, in Mumbai), they are owned by a trans entrepreneur, and the only expectation out of them is investment of time and commitment,” she adds.