MUMBAI:  93.5 RED FM has launched a brand-new initiative - ‘Pride Ki Side’ to celebrate the first anniversary of repealing of Section 377. The initiative will provide a platform to share stories and highlight the various challenges faced by LGBTQIA+. The concept of this campaign majorly aims at educating the masses about the pride community.

RED FM has joined hands with Naz Foundation and Breaking Barriers – a project by students of Tagore International School, Vasant Vihar to sensitize the society at the grass root level.

Speaking about this campaign, RED FM and Magic FM, COO and director Nisha Narayanan said, “Looking at the status of LGBTQIA+ community in India, it is high-time we start educating the people about them. Everyone should have the right to openly appreciate and practice who they are and love who they want. At RED FM, we believe in supporting this movement through our humble initiative ‘Pride Ki Side’. We want to raise awareness in the public about the challenges faced by them. We hope more people will come forward, share stories and help empower each other. Our vision is to create an inclusive environment and encourage our audience to adopt a progressive and compassionate outlook towards LGBTQIA+ community.”

 Commenting on the association, The Naz Foundation Trust founder and executive director Anjali Gopalan said, “I am so happy that RED FM has taken this step to highlight LGBTQIA + issues. The Naz Foundation (India) Trust is proud to be part of this journey.”

RED FM is targeting the children at a young age so that they become compassionate and kinder towards LGBTQIA+ children. To support this belief, various workshops are being conducted in schools to provide a safe and respectful learning environment for everyone. Trained and certified counselors accompanied by RED FM’s team and RJs are conducting the workshops.

To ensure maximum outreach, RED FM has also introduced a daily special morning show on their radio channel with a counselor. This engaging and interactive format of the show will address queries and problems of the community who face bullying, hatred and discrimination at institutes or workplace. Besides this, RED FM has also invited a well-known LGBTQIA+ influencer at their studio who will share stories of courage in dealing with cyber trolls, verbal harassment, and how they moved-ahead and dealt with such situations.

 Another highlight of ‘Pride Ki Side’ will involve a social experiment video with RJ Raunac that will go live a day prior to 6 September, a day when Section 377 was decriminalized last year. The campaign will run from 4- 13 September. Acceptance and inclusivity being the two major challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ community in India, RED FM brings yet another thoughtful campaign to bring a wind of change.