Web 2.0 Mapping – LGBT Indians

Trikone is out with its latest Desi LGBT mapping project. What does that mean? If you identify as a ‘desi’ (generally denoting of Indian subcontinent descent but the term is loaded with political implications), and are LGBT, then you should put yourself down on the map.

All maps are political for they embody the basis of power relations in society, the marking of territory, resources and identity. Web. 2.0 has made it possible to map alternative and hidden geographies, geographies across arbitrary borders.The Global Detention Project is an excellent example of a map that could be counter-hegemonic. The jury is still out on whether this mapping has helped to advance any critical agenda and what needs Web 2.0 mapping has fulfilled.

What needs does this Trikone map fulfill? Certainly nothing critical or counter-hegemonic but maybe it denotes a longing for community.

I wonder if undocumented youth would ever agree to mapping themselves. There are certainly internal maps of youth organizers but nothing we have released externally.

“Hi ICE, I live in Antioch, California, come and get me.”

It is definitely a documented privileging and one that men are seemingly exercising more than women. Is it because Trikone is marketed more towards Indian men or because generally, men browse the web in bigger numbers than women? Or does it have to do with women being more reluctant to put themselves on a tracking map due to privacy issues?

Questions to ponder.