Homosexuality

“HOMO” and Being Gay in Manipur
boys playing football in Manipur

The Meitei queer’s tussle with sexuality continues to be a struggle jarred with discrimination, negation and moral policing through language.

By Davidson and Pavel
May 15, 2018
“HOMO” and Being Gay in Manipur
Voices: A Thinly Veiled Act Of Cowardice?
A cartoon sketch of two women kissing, next to a sketch of a monster-like figure. The sketches are black-and-white, but outlined in colour.

Haiku for the Disenfranchised:        An overcooked symphony the angry voices scream  ‘377. Unnatural Offences – Whoever voluntarily…

By Neha Naqvi
January 1, 2014
Voices: A Thinly Veiled Act Of Cowardice?
Verdict 377: Love in the times of Section 377
A photo of a person in a black mask and dressed in a purple shirt, standing in front of a rainbow-coloured pride flag.

The Supreme Court’s verdict on Section 377 will not make a difference to my life with my “roommate” but will…

By Curated Content
January 15, 2014
Verdict 377: Love in the times of Section 377
TOGETHER, ALONE
A drawing of a face with closed eyes. The face has been coloured with pink, blue, black, mustard, yellow and red crayons.

It wasn’t that she had never heard of homosexuality; but, in her imagination, gay men and women were an exotic species, not real people who could, perchance, be fellow passengers on a bus, fellow shoppers at a mall, or a fellow beginner in a meditation class.

By Kaustav Bakshi
November 2, 2020
TOGETHER, ALONE
The Ocean in My Veins
A placard against a black background, on which is written 'Idea Junction, Colombo Pride 2018.'

The circulation of our bodily energies potentially ushers queer futurities. A future that is yet to come, a future in which our bodies will not be imprinted with fear. A future in which newer creative economies of desire, love, and pleasure surround us like the blue waters of the Indian Ocean. I write this brief reflection in hopes of such futures.

By Debanuj DasGupta
July 2, 2018
The Ocean in My Veins
The Impossibility of Intimacy
black and white image of a man and woman sitting on a hill looking out at nature

Roland Barthes writes in A Lover’s Discourse that we begin to think of ‘love’ as an idea only when our beloved or the object of desire has departed – either when love has failed, or in the absence of the lover – that is absolutely crucial to any theorisation of love.

By Rahul Sen
February 15, 2019
The Impossibility of Intimacy
The Caste of Marriage

LGBT struggle must be an anti-caste struggle. This requires us to go beyond thinking of caste and sexuality as merely an intersecting point which may be occupied by some within LGBT identities.

By Gowthaman Saroja Ranganathan
September 1, 2020
The Caste of Marriage
Sex and Me, an Intimate Affair

Loving sex has only opened doors for me to know more about the world and myself. It helps me love and appreciate myself more and also, to a fair bit, tolerate this hypocritical and violent world. It gives me hope.

By Pavel Sagolsem
November 1, 2018
Sex and Me, an Intimate Affair
Review: Risk-averse Bollywood Tackles Taboo Issues
A still from the film ‘Secret Superstar’, showing a young girl and boy staring at each othjer, both wearing school uniforms

Several recent mainstream Hindi films have dealt with issues of sexuality and gender not usually discussed in the intended audience’s drawing rooms.

By Shaifali Agrawal
May 1, 2018
Review: Risk-averse Bollywood Tackles Taboo Issues
Queering Silence: Sandip Roy’s “Don’t Let Him Know”
Cover of the book "Don't Let Him Know" by Sandip Roy

Using silent actions and secret fulfillment of what society considers as sin and the law condemns as illegal, the text offers an example of the silence of resistance.

By Jayaprakash Mishra
December 3, 2018
Queering Silence: Sandip Roy’s “Don’t Let Him Know”
Queer Women and Law: Desire and Betrayal
An image of a wallpaper with stickers that says “Love Wins”, “Love is love” “Love is a Human Right” and “Support Love”. There are six thin lines in the form of a rainbow with pride colours

Law is often violent – it incarcerates, shames our so-called deviance, and classifies who is worthy and not worthy of gaining access to rights and what kind of rights can be ceded at a particular moment. Yet, we believe we can change the law, make it sensitive to our existence

By Aishwarya Singh
September 1, 2020
Queer Women and Law: Desire and Betrayal
Love, Marriage, and the Neoliberal World Order
The White House lit up in rainbow colours.

On June 27, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States of America held, “The Fourteenth Amendment requires a state…

By Debanuj DasGupta
August 1, 2015
Love, Marriage, and the Neoliberal World Order
Issue in Focus: Sex And Modern Prudery
A man sits leisurely with his legs on his chair in a theatre. The audience chairs are coloured red, and are numbered. Many more men who are out-of-focus in this picture sit in similar fashion in rows behind him, looking at the screen.

I have great respect for Michel Foucault and his views on sexuality in our present era. While speaking on the…

By Sonia Soans
February 1, 2015
Issue in Focus: Sex And Modern Prudery
Interview: Sunil Gupta (Part II)
Artist Sunil Gupta stands infront of a wall which has two framed photos of his family. He has greying hair and is wearing a patterned woolen sweater.

Sunil Gupta is an artist, activist, and a curator, based in London UK. In this interview, he talks to Manak…

By Manak Matiyani
July 15, 2014
Interview: Sunil Gupta (Part II)
Friendship, Sexuality and the Auden Group
Friendship, Sexuality and the Auden Group

Friendship has always remained a thinly coded term for same-sex love within queer discourses, and early writings in favour of…

By Kaustav Bakshi
February 15, 2018
Friendship, Sexuality and the Auden Group
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