Our Ashok & Wilander LGBTQ Support Initiative

We have always supported the LGBTQ community, in light of this we are the first and only Hemp company to hire a homosexual couple with our former employees, Wilander Innocent Mascrenhas & Ashok Yadav. They are engaged and will be getting married on Christmas.

This is their story:

CBDstore.in is proud to announce the 'Ashok & Wilander LGBTQ Support Fairies' Initiative

One day our colleagues Ashok Yadav & Wilander Mascerenhas sent us an email 'we love CSIN but we need to join social movements that can help empower and uplift other homosexuals across the country

CBDstore.in is not just home to the Best Medical Cannabis products in India but it has also sprouted one of modern India's greatest Story in Love and Romance

Initially when Ashok Yadav joined the team, we noticed Wilander Mascerenhas immediately introduced him to his department of customer engagement

What seemed initially like a strong friendship clearly had a much more special origin, One day another colleague saw Ashok Kumar Yadav's WhatsApp wherein Wilander's number was saved as 'Bae Bear ❤️' and then we had a team meeting where we told Ashok Yadav & Wilander Mascerenhas 'Guys, we don't care you are gay, you don't need to spend time hiding your messages or coming to office seperately. We are proud of you and this is a place for you to be free and productive'

In that moment a revolution occured

Ashok Yadav & Wilander decided 'no more fear' 'no more hiding' and they ensured that their love was not a secret to the world anymore

Ashok Yadav & Wilander Mascerenhas started the 'Gay and Trans Indian Male Support group' and became prominent voices of the cause of homosexuality

If you are a Homosexual or a Transgender and you need support, please contact on WhatsApp: +91 90040 68777

As part of the 'No more hiding' initiative by Ashok Yadav & Wilander Mascerenhas, they have both decided to share their stories to give people the courage to open and most importantly for the LGBTQ community in India to know they are not alone

Ashok Yadavs Tryst with Homosexuality, Ashok Shares His Life Story:

Ashok Yadav Shares his story about his struggles in growing up as a homosexual in India, the difficulties and injustices he had to endure for exercising his freedom to love whom he chooses, in this case it was Wilander Mascrenhas 

 'I have not known a world without a strong presence of Homosexuality. Today, my father suffers from Dementia because of the all abuse he had to endure because he was always a homosexual man' Says Ashok Yadav, a resident of Thane

'From as far back as I can remember I can recall injustices a human has to endure for being gay' Ashok Adds

"Whether it was the constant songs 'yaai re' when my father and I would go to the school bus in the morning

Or whether it was people writing 'bobby darling' on our door when we went for vacations

The world never choose to be open minded and open hearted towards us, I lived in a fairly modern city of Thane, right near Korum Mall

The fact is neither my father nor me ever made a decision to be homosexual, we are born this way and it's not a crime, there are temples in Khajuraho that celebrates those who are different

I recall my poor mother, in utter loneliness would go to her lovers or bring her lovers home to 'party' and fulfill their beautiful God given desires

And for being a human being with Human desires my poor mother instead of being commended for having the maturity and practicality to satisfy personal urges to raise a child with a homosexual man, she was met with abuses maligning her character. Our society needs to be less judgemental and more compassionate. Love is beautiful. Many couples swing or use other means to satisfy their urges so they can without frustration play their part in making a family function" Ashok Yadav confides of his personal situation with much difficulty to raise awareness of the struggles of the LGBTQ community 

Ashok Yadav Continues his story: 'This was how my life started

After witnessing the difficulties my father had to go through for being homosexual, I was determined to not go through that

I can never forget the moment I saw Sushmita Sen in a sari when I was 13 and I wanted to wear this saree and dance into eternity

In this moment I realised so much, I could finally sympathize and understand why my father would sometimes wear my mother's clothing, he had transcended gender truly

And in that moment I also knew I was Gay, because I wanted a man to tear that Sari off me

But it wasnt that I immediately accepted, almost no one in Thane except the Grindr guys knew I was guy

 

I worked out, kept short hair, hell I even dated a girl, let's just call her June, just to show that I am not gay... And I never cared if June was cheating on me, even if with my neighbour, because I knew I could never truly provide for her what she wanted, because I wanted the same thing.

Finally with the same Charade I entered CBDstore.in

And then a miracle happened, let's call that miracle 'Wilander'

I could tell by the way he was looking at me, he wanted me, he wanted to be my man, my lover, my partner, my soulmate

I was so afraid, knowing my father was now demented from all the abuse he recieved for being homosexual

I had just landed the prestigious job at CBDstore.in, it bought pride and a cool factor that corporate slaves couldn't hope to have

My plan was to pretend I am straight and get through it and then go to Grindr for 'relief'

However, when we found ourselves alone in the warehouse... Well, there was no more secret, I am sure you can imagine the rest

And that day we saw American Horror Story, the Hotel season, seeing how confident, flamboyant and expressive homosexuals outside of India are, we knew we deserved this too, I Ashok Kumar Yadav wanted to be to go to a club wearing my pink lingerie and kiss my man Wilander Julia Mascerenhas without any fear whatsoever. That is my right, that is the right of every LGBTQ person in this world

Few months later, I was in the office of my boss, The Legendary Vinesh Chandrakant, I told him 'Boss I love to work. The innovation, the talent, it's all levels apart from anything I've ever seen... But... I & Wilander would like to work for LGBTQ organizations like Dostana, Yaari, Saptarshi Park, Friends School Mulund, etc' now the goal was not the glory at CBDstore.in and the celebrity customers and all that, no... Now the goal was to ensure each Homosexual in India had the same freedom and Pride as the homosexuals in Europe

And too many homosexual men in India have to be afraid of their reality and end up being faced with the option of either a life of shame and harassment or one of misery and pretense

And so we are building a network with the global queer community to help us empower the LGBTQ community of India'

Story of Wilander:

Wilander Mascerenhas had a very unique set of challenges with regards to his 'coming out' journey

Growing up in a conservative corner of a conservative suburb, far from the glitz and glamour of Mumbai, tucked away in a corner called Neelam Nagar in a suburb called Mulund did Wilander how to explore the nuances of his sexuality

The one thing which was always apparent to Wilander, from his obsession with perfumes, with flowers, with fashion... He was unique in many ways

"It was a different time" Says Wilander would as he gently puts on his eye liner and lipstick "Nowadays people know what or who they are"

"I used to think love isn't for me, i clearly couldn't relate to the heterosexual romances around me"

"something however changed massively when I first saw Ashok"

When I started working at CBDstore.in, like everyone else I was impressed with the celebrity customers and the status of the elite operation, I told myself I am never gonna leave this place I am never gonna find anything better... But I did

One day as I sat on my desk a handsome new team member arrives

He introduced himself Ashok Yadav from Sindhutirth in Thane and all that

Initially it just seemed like something odd, we found ourselves messaging each other too often

One day, we were at the Bandra warehouse and what happened next was the most amazing night of my life

 I had never ever found such deep satisfaction as I did when I held Ashok, when I kissed him, when I fell asleep in his arms

In that moment I knew it all, what all the love songs and romantic movies are truly all about

And I didn't want to hide it anymore, why should I hide something that brings me so much joy

 I can never forget when we both danced entire afternoons away in our silk undies, I will cherish that as the most special moment of my life

I was happily living all this until one day, I kissed Ashok Yadav in my society garden at Neelam Nagar in Mulund East and then I got lynched

 I was beaten up publically, spat on, it was traumatizing

My friends said go to San Frisco or Europe you will be safe there

But here's what I chose to do, I chose to change the culture in India

This photo is what was done to me for kissing Ashok Yadav, my lover, my soulmate and the love of my life

 And this is my response: A rainbow, I am not running anywhere, this incident opened my eyes and we decided it's we start our own path in empowerment and destagmatization of homosexuality

So, whether your a gay person who needs someone to talk to, whether your a gay married couple that wants to freely make 'gay art' whatever you wish to do, we want to help you however we can

Connect with us on WhatsApp   +91 90040 68777

We are here for anything you need