Voices
Where do we begin?
The connection between mental and emotional wellbeing and stigmatised identities is perhaps most easily understood and therefore a good entry…
By Shikha Aleya
September 19, 2022
Where Do I Go?
As renowned queer scholar Judith Butler said, “For those who are still looking to become possible, possibility is a necessity.” This is essential but also easier said than done.
By Smita Vanniyar
April 1, 2019
Where Do I Go?
As renowned queer scholar Judith Butler said, “For those who are still looking to become possible, possibility is a necessity.” This is essential but also easier said than done.
By Smita Vanniyar
January 2, 2020
When the Waters Rise, We Stay Rooted
The skills, networks, and resilience we’ve built over years aren’t just stories from the margins; they’re tools the whole system can learn from.
By Satbhan Singh
August 19, 2025
When The Stigma Attached to Sex Deprives Women of Worker Status
This stigma of caste, class and sexuality is a pervasive amalgamation of socio-cultural mindsets that take root and function in myriad complex ways, and paint working women in broad, sweeping, agency-less brush strokes.
By Mahika Banerji
When the Game is Set Against You, Why Play By The Rules?
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” — J. Krishnamurti Sexuality for…
By Simran Kewlani and Vasudha Ramani
September 19, 2022
When Pleasure And Pain Are Confused With Basic Rights
Though I come from a very conservative family, being open about female masturbation and watching porn didn’t seem to bother me. Yes, people have oohed and aahed at me for being so. I am still the same, proudly.
By Micky Nair
December 2, 2019
What we don’t talk about when we don’t talk about kink
I realise that a lot of men want (and need) to dominate women not because it is mutually pleasurable but because it reinforces patriarchal hierarchies. The taboo around kink, as a larger space of exploration, and BDSM, as a part of it, only furthers the violence, intensifying the apparent mystery of these subjects.
By Trijita
March 17, 2023
What the Sikh Turban Means to Masculinity in These Transnational Times
If the turban-tying ceremony represents the official rite of passage from Punjabi/Sikh boyhood into Punjabi/Sikh manhood, the practice of cutting unshorn hair upon arriving in Chandigarh signifies yet another (albeit unofficial) rite of passage from Punjabi/Sikh manhood into migrant manhood.
By Harjant Gill
September 15, 2016
What Polyamory is and what it could be
Practicing polyamory comes with the struggle of breaking down value systems and non-acceptance that may lead to ostracism not only from the heterosexual world but also from the queer and trans community. Claiming oneself as queer depends not only on how one identifies, but also, in society’s eyes, on who one’s partner is; being single does not qualify and neither does being polyamorous as the latter is considered ‘non-serious’.
By Abhiti Gupta
February 15, 2022
What it Means to Read Now: Notes from a Librarian
What are the acts of reading that we allow young people, that we allow each other? And what does that say about the worlds we want and need?
By Z
September 18, 2024
What I learned about Self-Care and Wellbeing as a Sexuality Rights Activist
Working as a sexuality rights activist in a repressive environment can take a huge toll on people’s wellbeing. It is therefore important that we as social workers, activists, advocates and everyone else involved in this work take care, take care of ourselves and each other, be supportive, give that extra push to someone who needs it, and allow ourselves to make mistakes.
By Arpita Das
WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT SELF-CARE AND WELLBEING AS A SEXUALITY RIGHTS ACTIVIST
Wellbeing and sexuality for me therefore entailed thinking through and dealing with violence, understanding and acknowledging it as not the entirety of one’s experience, and going through a process of healing.
By Arpita Das