Hyderabad’s For&Bi Takes TransLate Talks to Bengaluru for the First Time
The last edition, held in Hyderabad around Trans Awareness Week, had six speakers and two performers on stage, talking about highlighting the need to create safe and inclusive spaces and provide greater opportunities for work
Hyderabad's queer collective For&Bi is taking one of its flagship events on the road for the first time. "TransLate - Talks By Trans People," now in its third edition, moves to Bengaluru on September 13, at Atta Galatta in Indiranagar.
“The idea behind Translate has always been straightforward,” says Debbie, founder of For&Bi. “A storytelling platform where transgender individuals share lived experiences — not limited to “exceptional” success stories but inclusive of the everyday realities of survival, joy, and resistance.”
“Too often, trans people are expected to be excellent in order to be accepted; TransLate challenges this by honoring every story, whether of achievement or of simply surviving in a world that denies our existence,” she adds.
The last edition, held in Hyderabad around Trans Awareness Week, had six speakers and two performers on stage, talking about highlighting the need to create safe and inclusive spaces and provide greater opportunity for work. The first two editions in Hyderabad brought together 80+ and 60+ participants respectively, featuring respected voices such as Dr. Kiran B Nayak and Patruni Sastry.
“Trans narratives in India are too often distorted by misinformation, filtered through the cis gaze, or weaponized in transphobic ways. By creating a platform where trans people tell their own stories, we combat these harmful narratives and replace them with accounts rooted in lived experience, joy, and survival,” the organisers said.
For&Bi and Queer Nilayam, working alongside independent activists and individuals, plan to take Translate to more cities from here, with each edition built around the same idea: lived experience as a site of healing and care.
The team says the plan is to grow Translate well beyond a single evening of talks: "Eventually, we want to turn each edition into short films for Instagram and YouTube, because this storytelling shouldn't just live in the room — it needs to travel."
The Bengaluru event, sponsored by Mariwala Health Initiative, will feature speakers such as Riyana Raju, Draupadi, Rumi Harish, Kali Sidharth Medepalli, Lava among others.