Saluting lesser-known voices

The decriminalisation of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was a watershed moment for the LGBTQ community last year. To commemorate it and look at the movement from a wider lens, the Godrej India Culture Lab (GICL) has organised a two-day event called Queeristan on January 18 and 26.

GIVING A VOICE TO THE MARGINALISED

The first event, Caste and Queerness, will highlight the strife of people who are queer and hail from the Dalit community in India. Academic and poet Dhiren Borisa, trans rights activist Grace Banu, advocate and anti-caste activist Kiruba Munusamy will discuss caste-based discrimination against Dalit-queer people. Apart from this, the works of German filmmaker Marc Ohrem-Leclef, who uses portraits and text to explore friendship and love between men, and Dalit diasporic activist, scientist and community organiser Maari Zwick-Maitreyi’s renderings of the natural world will be on display. Visitors can also look at Home by photographer Steevez Rodriguez (that includes portraits of transwomen at their abode) and Love in the Times of Instagram: Find Love by Dan and Jo, which features posts about LGBTQ people looking for partners.

The second event titled Queeristan—So Many Queer Indias will focus on narratives in non-metro cities. It will kickstart with a talk by Anand Grover of Lawyers Collective, who argued on behalf of Naz Foundation, the original petitioners in the legal challenge to Section 377. Rachana Mudraboyina (Telangana), who started TransVision (a YouTube channel to fight misconceptions around the trans community); Darvesh Singh Yadavendra (Uttar Pradesh), who hosts the Awadh Queer Literature Festival and Maya Sharma (Gujarat), author of Loving Women: Being Lesbian in Underprivileged India, will discuss regional LGBTQ narratives.

SHOWCASING UNKNOWN HEROES

Parmesh Shahani, the head of GICL, says, “2018 was a landmark year because of the section 377 judgement. We wanted these events to talk about different aspects of being queer today, especially in a post-377 India. We were keen to address issues that even people from the queer community don’t discuss. So, the first event explores how caste and sexuality intersect.”

Gravity — one of the paintings on display by artist Maari Zwick-Maitreyi

Saniya Shaikh, who has curated the event, says, “When we look at the LGBTQ community, it is largely perceived it as a homogenous group. We only talk about identities within the community. But that’s not the only thing that defines them in terms of sexuality. There are so many factors which shapes them, caste being one of the most important elements.” Saniya did research for six months and got in touch with LGBTQ organisations across the country to scout for people, who are doing path-breaking work in non-metro areas.

Rapper Sumeet Samos, who talks about Dalit oppression through music, will close the first evening. He says, “This kind of an event provides me with better outreach. My songs come from a deep-rooted personal experience of caste discrimination, which I had been facing since childhood. It aggravated further when I joined the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. I started rapping to express my angst and put up these videos online, which received a good response. I realised that people could relate to artistes who come from marginalised spaces.”