New media networks have led to a personalization of the political sphere as
affordances provided by the virtual space give precedence to the significance of
the ‘self ’ over the ‘masses’. Through this paper an attempt has been made to
understand how the LGBT community uses new media technologies to transcend
the boundaries of the traditional public sphere in order to create a realm of
self-identification in the virtual world. The study focuses on a group of Indian
citizens who identify themselves as members of the LGBT community, who are
digitally active and have participated in activities to mobilize public opinion in
favor of the legalization of their sexual preferences. The study delineates how
the LGBT community translates online discursive practices into offline civic
engagement activities through the process of community formation, mobilization,
setting up agenda for collective actions and creation of a realm for expression
by the marginalized other.