Founded in 2015 by Mist – an online collective of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activists – the Queer and Allies Art Festival (QAAF) brings together artists, craftspeople, and performers from all over India in a single event that demonstrates the talent and artistry of India’s LGBTQ community and its allies. The festival is a free one-full-day slate of performances, films, and art installations that happens in various cities in India.

We know it takes a great deal to come to terms with oneself, to know that we need to understand and accept ourselves first to be able to express pride and belief in a crowd of staring and questioning eyes. Spoon-fed care doesn’t teach this, but a guiding light could make a difference in self-learning and understanding. So this is a place where we come together and hear one another. QTAM happens every alternate weekends (either on Saturday or Sunday) at Mist Centre / Online where we discuss about a specific topic or just have fun if any festival is around the time. Details of the QTAM will be posted in Mist Facebook Page and QTAM group.

Stories – a space where people can share stories, in hope to uplift the LGBTQ community. We hope that the stories we collect will help the LGBTQ individuals come to terms with their identity and understand that they are not alone. Let it be coming out or your love story or your life struggles as a LGBT individual or anything, write to us and we will get your story published in our site.

Poems – a space where people can share their writings, in hope to express the writing skills of the LGBTQ community. We hope that the poems we post here will help the LGBTQ individuals express their writing skills to the world out there. Let it be coming out or your expression of love or your life struggles as a LGBT individual or anything, write to us and we will get your poem published in our site.

The Out & Loud - Pune International Queer Film Festival, powered by MIST, is an annual event showcasing handpicked queer films from all over the world. It is a festival for the people and by the people, where award selection for films is not made by a special jury but through voting by members of the community.

What’s more!? The festival promises an amazing line-up of performances by members of the community and thought-provoking panel discussions. Besides coming together for the love of art and cinema, the festival is also an open platform for the LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual/Allies, plus all other sexualities and genders not included in these few letters) to voice their concerns in a safe, friendly environment. The first Out & Loud – PIQFF was held in Pune in April, 2017, to an overwhelming response.

View more details of Out & Loud - PIQFF

Mist has acquired the domain name lgbtq.co.in to help LGBTQ groups in India establish an online presence with a vision to create online presence under lgbtq.co.in for smaller CBO’s & NGO’s to show their work globally. Mist provides hosting space as well as technical support to interested groups, either free of cost or for a small fee depending on the organization level.