L J Ravi 
Bengaluru, 24th June 2022 :In honour of Pride Month 2022, Reach Lives is launching the ‘LGBTQube Project’ in Bengaluru. Volunteers from across Bengaluru fundraised and built an 8’-tall Rubik’s cube-inspired art installation – the so-called ‘LGBTQube’, on account of the choice of colours which correspond to the colours on the Pride flag. The cube will be presented to the public in partnership with Phoenix Marketcity outside the mall’s food court from June 24-26.
The team is using this installation as a way to engage people in conversation about Pride and the LGBTQ+ community, especially about the overlooked needs of Bengaluru’s impoverished trans-persons, and raise funds to address a key need of many trans-persons – healthcare.
Reflecting on their efforts during Pride month 2021, Dr.Senneil Gomes, director of communications at Reach Lives, said, “We were able to help over 1,000 trans-persons, who had been acutely impoverished during the lockdown measures, with emergency rations and health supplies, but our work last year also highlighted many lapses in our collective understanding of the challenges faced by trans-people in Bengaluru. This year we needed to do something that would reach more Bengalureans and help raise awareness about pride month and the LGBTQ+ movement. The Rubik’s cube with its visual concordance with the Pride flag and its inherent complexity, which mirrors the intricacies of human identity and expression, served as the ideal muse for our art installation.”
As part of their Pride month outreach, Reach Lives also collaborated with BookASmile a charity initiative of BookMyShow for a movie screening of ‘777 Charlie’ at PVR Orion Mall for 50 beneficiaries of the LGBTQ+ community including trans-persons who had previously never been able to visit malls and watch movies in multiplexes. Additionally, they will also be adopting the health and nutrition needs of the residents of India’s first trans-owned orphanage – NammaneSummane.
Speaking on the intended cause of the fundraising, Dr. Victor Mohan, director of the Reach Health program, said, “Our work with trans-persons has revealed that they are routinely mistreated when accessing healthcare. There are also significant lapses in knowledge among healthcare workers regarding trans-specific health issues. They need healthcare that’s free from discrimination and our plan is to bring mobile medical camps closer to their settlements and foster an accessible environment.”
The Reach Lives team has launched a website, www.reachlives.com/lgbtqube, where people can learn more about the project, contribute funds to cover healthcare costs of trans-persons and share messages of support, hope and love with the LGBTQ+ community.
