Instagram partners with The Queer Muslim Project and launches new features in honor of pride month.

Instagram in collaboration with the queermuslimproject launched a set of new features in the honor of celebration and support of the LGBTQIA+ community in the month of pride. The queermuslimproject is a community that preaches awareness about the queer communities regarding their equal rights in every aspect.

The Pride celebration takes place every month to give the LGBTQIA+community the recognition that they should be getting around the world. This year due to the pandemic situation the physical conventions could not be carried out, further the community is also facing mental and emotional well-being challenges. Tara Bedi, Public Policy and Community Outreach Manager, Instagram, India said that they fully support the LGBTQIA+ community because they can feel the different treatment both physical and mental they receive from everywhere. She ensured that Instagram is a safe and secure platform for them to express their feelings and emotions.During this pandemic situation they want to help the community celebrate it properly in a virtual manner and stay connected with the people they love. She expressed her gratitude towards the partnership with @thequeermuslimproject and she hopes everyone will welcomes these features with an open-heart.

The Queer Muslim Project advocates sex-positive, affirming and intersectional representations of the communities using visual art and storytelling. Rafiul  Alom  Rahman, founder of @thequeermuslimproject, said that the pandemic situation has created a mental disturbance among almost everyone. These communities are affected the most because all with this mental disturbance they constantly have to face the social stigma related to their identity in our society. It is very important to express online and be safe in this moment of crisis. They are highly delighted to collaborate with Instagram for this nobel cause.

The Well-being guide will help handle negativity and challenges in the social media. It will also help the young LGBTQIA+ community people experiencing anxiety, especially feeling isolated or alone. It has inputs from various creators and communities like – Veer Mishra (@v.ierd), Gaysi Family (@gaysifamily), Under25 (@under25official), Solidarity Foundation (@solidarityfoundation), Sandy Saha (@sandysahaofficial), Ya_All (@ya.all.northeast), and illustrations from Sonaksha Iyenger (@sonaksha); They explain how important it is to stay positive and manage their online identity properly.

New features from Instagram: 

• Rainbow hashtags in Feed – In  partnership with GLAAD rainbow hashtags have been introduced which are used throughout the LGBTQIA+ community. The hashtags will appear in a rainbow gradient.  Some of them are #lgbtq, #bornperfect, #equalitymatters, #accelerateacceptance, or #pride2020 
• Rainbow Stories rings – The rainbow gradient experience  has been extended across both Feed and Stories with the Story ring. When it is used in a story, this hashtags will turn the Story ring rainbow gradient while the Story is live for 24 hours. This feature will be out in a few days.
• Updated Stickers – Under collaboration with the Instagram creators, the Pride sticker pack now includes new stickers that emphasize more on the LGBTQIA+ community.
• Pride-themed AR Effect – Instagram will be release a new Pride-themed AR effect for the first time. It includes 12 LGBTQIA+ flag gradients that will denote identities of all gender and sexuality across the world.