LGBTQ

Being A Queer Woman Helped Me Accept My Body
an illustration of two women kissing

Being a woman who loves other women, I realised that women look at me with the same tender gaze I look at them with. And that, more than anything, has made me feel at peace with my body. I hope to one day love it

By Curated Content
April 15, 2020
Being A Queer Woman Helped Me Accept My Body
I Recently Had Sex With A Girl
A watercolour painting depicting many hues

I am a 25-year-old cis woman and I recently had sex with another woman for the first time. It was new, it felt nice, but it just didn’t feel safe.

By Pallavi
April 1, 2020
I Recently Had Sex With A Girl
Critiquing the (Hetero-)Canon of Love: Desire and Longing in Contemporary Indian ‘Gay Romance’ Fiction
Book cover for 'parrots of desire'

Undoubtedly, LGBTQ+ literature and writing in India has witnessed an ‘explosion’ in the past two decades, and the trends in contemporary publication promise consistent growth in the future too. However, issues of queer representation in existing literature, and especially contemporary literature, need to be continually invested in, for literature is a key marker of society’s outlook on and reception of such sensitive subjects as homosexuality and ‘queer’-ness

By Anil Pradhan
March 16, 2020
Critiquing the (Hetero-)Canon of Love: Desire and Longing in Contemporary Indian ‘Gay Romance’ Fiction
Flipping the Script: 4 Reasons Fan Fiction Is a Feminist Pursuit
Fingers typing on a keyboard

We need more spaces for marginalized people to express themselves. Although pop culture and mainstream media have yet to feature the diversity and representation we crave, fan fiction can help to fill in those gaps. And that is nothing short of feminist.

By Curated Content
March 16, 2020
Flipping the Script: 4 Reasons Fan Fiction Is a Feminist Pursuit
Editorial: Sexuality and Pleasure
Image of two colourful bubbles

Fragile and fleeting like soap bubbles, pleasure shines with many colours. But its iridescence is frightening for many. Perhaps because its colours change in unpredictable and uncontrollable ways, and though fragile and fleeting, it is a world in itself

By TARSHI
February 17, 2020
Editorial: Sexuality and Pleasure
Interview – Ritambhara Mehta

Ritambhara Mehta is with Nazariya, a Delhi-based queer feminist resource group.  Nazariya works on issues of gender and sexuality with a focus on issues of queer women and trans* persons.

By Shikha Aleya
February 17, 2020
Interview – Ritambhara Mehta
Worlds Within Queer Worlds: Presence, Politics And Diversity

Many among us are called names, are greeted with aggressive taunts and jeers on the very streets we boldly occupy at least once every year,so we go on living docilely until the next Pride, when performative reclamation of spaces becomes possible.

By Sohini Chatterjee
January 2, 2020
Worlds Within Queer Worlds: Presence, Politics And Diversity
A Cafe Of Our Own?: The Politics Of Queer Spatiality In Urban India

Queer cafés are not exempt from the fast changing landscape of Indian metropolitan areas and offer both inclusion as well as exclusion from the promise of a queer utopia.

By Swati Vijaya and Debanuj Dasgupta
January 2, 2020
A Cafe Of Our Own?: The Politics Of Queer Spatiality In Urban India
Editorial: Anthology Issue
Image of a bright red flower

As we move into a new year and a new decade we hope to be moving towards a more just and peaceful world, especially given the troubled times that people all over the world have been and are currently experiencing. And so, in this new year, we wish you lots of SISA spaces through 2020 and beyond!

By TARSHI
January 1, 2020
Editorial: Anthology Issue
Not Just A Portrait Of A Lady On Fire…
A still from the film 'portrait of a lady on fire'

As the fire rages on and licks of flames get higher and higher, the burning desire, tension and sexual chemistry between the two rises to a crescendo. Heloise gets so consumed that a part of her dress catches fire, but it is quickly put out by the other women present there.

By Anubha Sarkar
December 2, 2019
Not Just A Portrait Of A Lady On Fire…
Sexuality: What Does It Mean To Be Human?
an image of a rainbow pride flag being carried by a large crowd

Sexual rights include the right to express one’s sexuality freely, without discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, and to have access to provisions in the legal framework that are all-inclusive and offer protection whenever the need arises.

By Sanya Talwar
December 2, 2019
Sexuality: What Does It Mean To Be Human?
Blossoming Into A Garden: Spirituality, Sexuality and All-Consuming Queer Love in ‘Puu’
Cover image of 'Puu', showing two queer people kissing

Puu, an episodic comic (consisting of 92 serialised episodes) created in 2016 by Nabigal-Nayagam Haider Ali – going by Nabi online – is woven together with vast, expansive threads of similar intense spiritual moments and reflections on devotion, faith, and love.

By Rohini Banerjee
November 15, 2019
Blossoming Into A Garden: Spirituality, Sexuality and All-Consuming Queer Love in ‘Puu’
Interview – Daniel Mendonca
Photo of Daniel Mendonca

Shikha Aleya interviews Daniel Mendonca who identifies as an intersex person and is a gender rights activist who has engaged with diverse groups of people in India and other countries, to expand awareness, build empathy and foster an environment that is accepting of diversity.

By Shikha Aleya
October 15, 2019
Interview – Daniel Mendonca
As a Transman, The Pressure to Fit in the Masculine Role is Immense
Silhouette of a male figure sitting near a river

Masculinity once upon a time was just a word we studied in school, whose sole purpose was to differentiate binary gender in the society. Now masculinity is a criteria of a certain job that a person has to perceive to be called or termed as one.

By Curated Content
October 15, 2019
As a Transman, The Pressure to Fit in the Masculine Role is Immense
Brushstrokes: Privacy
An excerpt from a comic, two people stare at their phones and the text above them reads, 'why should we care about privacy'?

From maintaining safety to the maintaining of boundaries, privacy plays a crucial role in informing our sexuality and preserving our sexual wellbeing

By Curated Content
September 2, 2019
Brushstrokes: Privacy
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