The first time I went to a bathhouse was with a very close friend of mine after a night of (heavy) drinking. Yup, I’d be considered one of the dirty bathhouse goers in four different countries, and you know what? I’m not ashamed. And so far I’ve had quite a lot of fun, all over the world, in four different countries to be exact. All in this year actually, I decided I’d be brave enough to go out and try it, just for fun. This article originally appeared on Noisey UK.So I’ve been to bathhouses.
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You can follow Salma on Twitter and Bekky on Instagram. There’ll be people out there who’ll come support that."Īlthough Hungama serves as a refuge for queer Asians, Ryan insists that the night transcends beyond being simply a queer brown space: "It’s about people coming together unconditionally and accepting each other." "You don’t have to be an 'other.' You can just be you. "It would be nice to provide a place of fun and a place of belonging," he says. On the way out, I ask Ryan if he would consider expanding the night to other UK cities like Birmingham, home to some of Britain’s biggest South Asian diaspora communities. But I can’t help but think it’s a shame that events like this are still few and far between, especially for queer Asian people outside London, where nothing like this exists. Meanwhile, earlier this month, LGBTQ+ charity Imaan played host to the Big Gay Iftaar, bringing both the mainstream Muslim community together with its queer counterparts to observe Ramadan. Burnt Roti Magazine, for instance, is a magazine centered on non-binary identities and bisexuality from a South Asian perspective, and they recently celebrated their third issue. Right now, 'Hungama seems to be part of a new wave of third generation South Asians redefining their self-image and celebrating the multiplicities of their identities. The rhetoric generally goes that nightlife in the capital-especially queer nightlife-is dead, but tonight, for a moment at least, that feels kind of off-the-mark.
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And as the night progresses, the crowd gets even more flamboyant, with dancers gyrating across the club space, sweat sticking to the walls and make-up dripping down faces. The sticky dancefloor is heaving as it approaches 1:30 AM, with no signs of slowing down. "The night itself has organically become a party that celebrates being you, who you are, who you love and who you want to be." Ultimately, he hopes that attendees-a significant proportion of whom have come with their significant others-can dance to the music they grew up with alongside throwback chart hits, only this time with "our boyfriends or girlfriends and not wonder if we’ll ever get the chance to be loved for ourselves." But he’s also keen to stress that 'Hungama' is just like any other night in that it’s a place to let loose.
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"I used to be obsessed with Bollywood music, but I’d left it to the wayside," Ryan tells me, speaking about how it often feels like queer South Asians have to leave their culture behind once they come out. But this can be jarring for someone who’s grown up hiding who they are from their family, only to be thrust into a world where you can be anything you want." "The culture is very experiential and experimental. "When you go to LGBTQ club nights, they can sometimes be fetishitic or kinky," he continues. The club is heaving at this point, and we find ourselves having to shout over the music. "When I first moved to London eight years ago, I was very shaken in spaces," Ryan explains when I manage to grab a spare moment to chat with him by the bar. It’s also one of the only events in London to bring queer Asians together with the rest of the LGBTQ+ community, as they aren’t always one and the same. The brainchild of London-based fashion and art curator Ryan Lanji, 'Hungama'-which loosely translates to 'chaos' or 'uproar' in Urdu-was born after he noticed the lack of spaces and club nights allowing queer South Asian people the chance for their culture and sexuality to seamlessly co-exist.