India, one of the oldest civilisations, has 700 spoken languages and 22 major languages. Yet, the words in regional languages to describe the 125+ million LGBTQIA+ community were not popular.

While these words are commonly known in English, less than 1% of the LGBTQIA+ community in India speaks English as their first language. Unfortunately only derogatory words became popular, pushing the community further away.

In this landscape, it’s no wonder that discrimination and hate crimes against the community continued. Because people fear what they don’t know.

Disney Star Network spearheaded an initiative to help the LGBTQIA+ community reclaim their identity, by creating a lexicon of more than 246 words across 7 Indian languages, to replace derogatory terminology with inclusive language in daily discourse.

The effort was met with overwhelming positivity, achieving a 92.2% positive sentiment, in a context where brands often faced criticism for superficial advocacy and tokenism.

Disney Star Network - the nation's storyteller, reaches 700 million viewers monthly, with 20,000+ hours of original content in 9 languages. Present in households, families watch content together, giving us the power to shape narratives. To tell inclusive stories that influence the heart of India.

However, how does one tell stories of everyone without the right words?

Because the regional words for the 125+ million Indians from the LGBTQIA+ community seemed to be forgotten by most.

Even though same-sex relationships between consenting adults were decriminalized, the hate crimes and biases continued.

Words of Pride – A step towards visibility, equality and confidence

People’s native language is what makes them feel visible and closer to their identity, family and society.

Hence, only language had the power to shape the world.

The aim was to ignite change by spearheading a new dialogue on the values associated with LGBTQIA+ communication.

Legally free but societally confined:

In a landscape, where only 1% of the LGBTQIA+ community in India identified with the English words and derogatory words in the 700 spoken and 22 official languages became popular - it pushed the community further away, impacting their self-esteem and sense of belonging.

The invisibility of the right words in their mother-tongue led to further isolation within families and communities.

Even with the decriminalization of Section 377, which made same-sex relations between consenting adults lawful, they were legally free but societally confined.

Language has the power to shape the world. It’s beautiful how a list of words strung together can tell stories of people, cultures and identities.

However, when language ignores issues of power and equity that shape people’s lives, it only foments further exclusion of marginalized people.

Because without the right words, how does one educate and overturn centuries of negative attitudes and perceptions?

The world is evolving, and it’s time our words did too.

Reclaiming Respect Through Language

A lexicon of 246 respectful words for the community, across 7 regional Indian languages - found and taught. We brought together a collective of language experts, scholars and members of the LGBTQIA+ community to create a unique vernacular dictionary.

So everyone could identify themselves with pride in their native tongue, and the words never fell short again.

A campaign that highlights the convergence of language and respect.

It was launched on the anniversary of the historic Section 377’s repeal.

30 months of research and 7000 hours of collective collaboration by 150 folks from the community, allies, collectives, language experts, linguists, writers, culture makers and legal teams went into identifying the words in 7 different languages.

Making it an initiative by the community, for the community and society at large.

Our primary duty was towards the LGTBQIA+ community, to help them express themselves with pride and create meaningful connections with their families, friends and the world.

However, our larger goal was to make these words a common parlance. Hence, we wanted to ensure that we don’t just talk to the common public, but also reach the culture makers like authors, lyricists, content writers and advertisers.

Hence, our marketing mix was designed to not just maximize reach, but also induce action.

Words of Pride - a website glossary of respectful words in 7 regional languages was launched on the 5th anniversary of the repeal of Section 377.

Curated over 30 months of research and 7000 hours of collective collaboration, it was detailed with the correct pronunciation and sentences showcasing usage of the words.

Bollywood’s biggest LGBTQIA+ persona, ace director - Karan Johar (although identity has never been confirmed), launched the campaign.

Hundreds of influencers from the community joined in, urging people to learn and use the words.

The conversation was taken up with culture makers, writers and authors at India’s largest literature summit and ASCI, the regulatory authority of advertising in India.

It was spoken of in India’s biggest reality TV show Big Boss and coincided with the Supreme Court of India releasing a handbook to combat gender stereotypes - which mirrored our ethos and amplified its message

The campaign reached over 53.5 Million Indians and garnered 55+ Million video views including 196.6K+ engagements.

Disney Star India’s website traffic jumped 171% over the previous month.

An impressive 45% of the views on the platform were organic, which is 5x the industry benchmark, showcasing genuine interest and engagement from the community and the wider society as well.

While other brands were getting lambasted for “tokenism” and being deemed “woke”, the campaign saw a 92.2% positive sentiment.

In an era characterized by evolving inclusivity, the ‘Words of Pride’ campaign stands as a potent catalyst for transformation.