The first time Shazad Hai wore henna it “felt like Christmas”.
In a rebellious move against the gender binary, as well as notions of toxic masculinity imposed by their South Asian heritage, brown gay men and non-binary individuals are adorning their hands with traditional henna with pride.
The word “forbidden” comes up quickly when asking a South Asian gay man about their first memory of henna. Shazad Hai, the co-founder of, the world’s biggest LGBTQIA+ Bollywood event in Toronto, remembers being “mesmerised” by the bridal mehndi , that his aunt wore when he attended her wedding aged 10. “I just remember being very captivated by it,” he says. “After she got married, we were all at her place and I kept on asking to look at her hands.
After moving to London, I realised there were hundreds of brown LGBTQIA+ individuals just like me who were using that heritage to shine even brighter. Lady Bushra, a UK-based drag queen, says wearing henna today is as much a statement as the rest of her drag. Born in an ultra-orthodox Muslim family, the performer was introduced to henna as a child at Eid. “Patterns and designs were reserved for women, but as children, we would take a clog of henna and sleep with it in our hands.
When it came to getting married, Tyrone Bauer, from Mumbai, knew he wanted to experience some of the traditional elements of an Indian wedding celebration with his partner, Daniel. As cis gay men, they don’t wear henna on a daily basis, but chose to have one discreet pattern tattooed on their hands during their pre-wedding ceremonies. “Our haldi , and mehndi , happened the day before the wedding,” says Tyrone.
, showed how queer South Asians can enjoy some of the traditions they were brought into, but on their own terms.
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