Here we are, celebrating 25 years of DIVA, and I can’t help but notice how much the landscape for our voices to be heard has changed in that time. When the magazine first hit newsagent shelves, I was a 15-yearold shop kid. I grew up reading the newspapers and magazines we stocked, but don’t remember being conscious of the fact that I rarely saw Asian faces in the media at the time. Looking back now, I can see not just the erasure of my culture and community, but also recognise that when we did appear, it was usually for negative reasons.
As an Indian lesbian, I’ve spent much of the past 25 years waiting to see someone like me in the media. Where are the out, queer presenting desi women? The complexities around being fully out in our community, combined with a lack of opportunity for people of colour more generally in the media – and elsewhere – have led to little to no representation for too long.