Relationships are complex, queer relationships even more so. While there are many similarities between cis-het (cis-gender heterosexual) and queer couples in terms of the hopes and dreams they nurture, there are glaring differences as well. In a cis-het normative society, the dearth of representation is a roadblock in self-identification, and the stressors stemming from a queer identity add to the burden of a relationship. In a country like India where LGBTQIA+ individuals grow up without examples of queer couples around them or in media, stories of happy queer couples in long-term relationships allow them to be hopeful of a future where they can too be happy.

“There are very few examples of successful queer relationships. The representation of happy couples is a possibility of a future wherein gay men may not need to marry women to have some semblance of a family, and may offer parents an alternative window which allows them to become optimistic about their queer child’s future,” says Ankur who identifies as a cis-gay man, and lives with his partner of 12 years, Deepak.

After meeting through a dating website in 2010, they now live together in Bengaluru with their dogs, and work as 3D animators. However, the road to domesticity was not a smooth ride, and they had to strive hard to persevere.