Category: Insight | Page 5

This illustration is a combination of a graphic and an extract from the article. The left half of the illustration panel shows the cover page of the transgender+ workplace inclusion guidelines developed by Orinam and Diversity Dialogues ‘Supporting Gender Affirmation: Towards Transgender+ Inclusive Workplaces in India’. With a simple but striking design, the cover page carries the guidelines title in bold, all-capitals text in the centre but with the text aligned to the left. The background of the text is split into two horizontal halves – the upper half blue in colour and the lower pink. There is a white bar on top of the blue half, which carries the logos of Diversity Dialogues (left side of the page) and Orinam (right side of the page). The extracted text, in the right half of the illustration panel, says: “The guidelines were dedicated to the memory of Anannya Krishnan, a trans woman who was part of the Orinam collective. Despite a promising career as a pharmacologist in the drug safety vertical of a Chennai business, she faced numerous struggles to find a place to live and have her family acknowledge her gender identity. She committed suicide on December 30, 2017.” Cover page design credit: Diversity Dialogues and Orinam.

Happenings, Insight Dec '18

Diversity Dialogues, Orinam raise bar for trans inclusion in workplaces

By Brindaalakshmi K.

Brindaalakshmi K. on the recent launch of a trans inclusion guide for Indian workplaces

This artwork image is borrowed from the cover page of a summary of the Supreme Court’s Section 377 verdict – the summary titled ‘Right to Love – Navtej Singh Johar V. Union of India: A Transformative Constitution and the Rights of LGBT Persons’ was published by Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore with inputs from queer activists across India in September 2018. The image shows a graphic of two hands held together in a friendly handshake grip. It could also be seen as any two lovers holding hands. One of the hands is coloured in the queer pride rainbow flag shades, while the other is white in colour. The outline of the two hands together is shaped like a love sign. In a sense, the graphic colours could also be interpreted as a friendly handshake between a queer person (symbolized by the rainbow coloured hand) and the State (symbolized by the white hand). The graphic is placed on a yellowish background. Artwork credit: Alternative Law Forum

Insight Nov '18

Will the Section 377 verdict live up to its full potential?

By Brindaalakshmi K.

Brindaalakshmi K. on what the Section 377 verdict means to people assigned gender female at birth

Creations, Insight, Travel Travel Oct '18

Many intimacies, many improvisations

By Marc Ohrem-Leclef

Marc Ohrem-Leclef’s 'Jugaad – Of Intimacy and Love' is a visual arts portrayal of male-to-male intimacy

This graphic shows a stylized black and white pencil doodle sketch on paper. It shows the facial side profiles of two gender indeterminate individuals looking closely at each other, their eyes locked in a steady gaze, lips not far apart, noses drawn as inverted sevens touching each other, and a heart symbol placed between their foreheads with the curved part of the heart highlighted as the number three. Both individuals have ear tops shaped with different symbols of sexual orientation and gender identity. In effect, the sketch symbolizes Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and celebrates its reading down by the Supreme Court on September 6, 2018. Right above the sketch is a line that says “Love knows no gender”. The sketch has been modified with Adobe Photoshop filters in such a way that the right half of the sketch is shaded in grey and the left half in white. The two colours roughly overlap with patches of grey on white and vice versa, and flow into each other diagonally towards the centre of the sketch. The rectangular shape of the sketch has a rainbow coloured outline. This graphic is a throwback to a doodle protest campaign launched by ‘Varta’ webzine on the first anniversary of the apex court’s 11.12.13 verdict on Section 377. The doodles were published in the December 2014 issue of ‘Varta’. Graphic credit: Debjyoti Ghosh

Insight Sep '18

When the Constitution came out in flaming rainbow colours!

By Debjyoti Ghosh

Debjyoti Ghosh on Section 377 finally being read out of queer lives in India

This visual is a collection of six photographs that show different scenes from the symposium ‘Queering Mental Health’ organized at Seva Kendra Calcutta Training Centre on August 4, 2018 as ‘Varta’ webzine’s fifth birthday event. The photographs are placed in a grid. Clockwise from top left: Varta literature on display at the symposium; panellists Sudha Jha and Kaushik Gupta; audience interaction during the symposium – a young woman asks a question as other participants look on; panellists Dr. Madhurima Ghosh, Shilpi Banerjee, Shampa Sengupta and Mohit Ranadip; panellists Dr. Chilka, Dr. L. Ramakrishnan, Rituparna Borah and Sayan Bhattacharya; and ‘Varta’ birthday cake – a heart shaped cake with red gleaming icing all over, a “Happy Birthday” plastic prop placed on the top surface, and Varta’s name and a smiley drawn out in yellow icing just below the prop. The photograph of the cake takes up maximum space in the grid, with other equal sized photographs placed above it and to its right. Photo credits: Jia Mata (first two and the last photograph) and Kaushik Gupta (remaining photographs).

Happenings, Insight Aug '18

Symposium on queering mental health

By Jia Mata

Jia Mata was at 'Varta’s' 5th birthday event focussed on queer perspectives on mental health

This photograph is a daytime long shot of three mobile bio toilet units installed on the Indo-Myanmar Road in Imphal city, Manipur. A fourth unit is also there for maintenance and equipment storage purpose. The toilets are gender neutral and don’t have any gender marker. A piece of paper that simply says “Toilet” is stuck on the outer wall of the toilet closest to the camera. The toilets are installed along the pavement running on the Kangla Fort side of the road, and are positioned to face the pavement. Single step iron stools are placed on the pavement to help people enter the toilets. The materials used for the structure of the toilets seem to be mainly steel and plastic. The toilets have a portable septic tank and a water reservoir on the top. Specific bacteria in the septic tank help to convert human waste into an odourless liquid that can be removed safely using a special machine, and then recycled for irrigation in gardens. The toilets don’t need any sewage connection. In the picture, all the toilet doors are closed, while the storage unit’s door is open. A large blue plastic bucket can be seen inside. A similar bucket is also kept outside on the pavement. It’s a rainy day and the road and pavement are wet; there is water accumulated next to the pavement. Some distance away from the toilets are two women seated on plastic chairs under a large stationary umbrella. A man has also taken shelter under the umbrella with a large sack placed on the ground and is talking on a mobile phone. In the background, traffic on the road, people walking on the pavement, and several trees planted along the pavement can be seen. Photo credit: Bonita Pebam

Insight, Manipur Diary Jul '18

Trans inclusive public sanitation in Manipur needs a bigger push

By Bonita Pebam

Bonita Pebam on where the transgender inclusive public sanitation efforts have reached in Manipur

This photograph is an indoor shot of Anurag Maitrayee standing next to a sideboard in one corner of a room. To her right is a French window, while the sideboard on the left is decorated with a metallic bust of Buddha and a flower vase. She is dressed in a saree, full-sleeved blouse and accessories, and has a large handbag on her right forearm. The photograph is accompanied with a quote from Anurag Maitrayee extracted from the article: “I plan to have programming in ‘LGBT Online’ that will engage queer individuals in speaking about larger social issues, be it politics or the economy. Why the pigeonholing that one comes across all the time? People may be well intended, but why are they surprised to see me in a procession on political issues? Can’t transgender people have an interest or stake in issues other than their gender identity?” Photo courtesy Anurag Maitrayee

Insight Jun '18

Queer and Bengali on YouTube

By Pawan Dhall

Anurag Maitrayee tells Pawan Dhall about 'LGBT Online', YouTube’s first Bengali talk show from India on queer issues

In this photograph, a midday event is taking place on the pavement outside Kamala Girls’ High School in South Kolkata on March 19, 2018 to protest the incidents in the school and the West Bengal Education Minister’s comments on the matter. A street play is in progress. The main actor dressed in a ‘kurta’, pair of jeans, slippers and a ‘dupatta’ can be seen holding a tambourine in their hands and addressing the audience. About a dozen people, standing around at some distance from the actor, are watching. To the right of the photograph, facing the actor, are two individuals holding a placard in part Bengali, part English: “Samakami aami, bhalobasha aami. Shame Education Minister!” (So what if I’m homosexual, my love has meaning. Shame Education Minister!). Behind the placard holders is the school building and a part of the closed school gate can also be seen. The name of the school is written on an arched board above the gate. In the forefront, the photograph shows someone holding a mobile phone and recording a video of the play. Large trees, school buses, people sitting on platforms under the trees, and a building adjacent to the school make up the background. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Insight May '18

To school, with fear . . . of confessions!

By Jia Mata, Sudha Jha, Nikita Kabra

Jia Mata, Nikita Kabra and Sudha Jha report on the recent homophobic violation of child rights in the Kamala Girls' High School incident involving the school's headmistress and the West...

This photograph captures a boisterously happy moment from the ‘Kolkata Rainbow Carnival 2018’. A woman exults in joy as she picks up another woman in her arms, quite clearly heavier than herself. The second woman is also all laughter and pumps her fist in the air at the success of her friend. A crowd of people around the two women also laughs and cheers, as a number of photographers mill around to capture the moment. The woman doing the lifting is dressed in a ‘kurta’, has short cropped hair and tops in her ears. The woman being lifted is dressed in a colourful saree and ‘bindi’. The carnival was organized by the West Bengal Forum for Gender and Sexual Minority Rights on February 18, 2018 at Triangular Park in South Kolkata. Photo credit: Nazia Khan

Clickhappy!, Insight Mar '18

Queer cheer at rainbow carnival in Kolkata

By Nazia Khan

Nazia Khan was busy shooting moods and moments at the recent ‘Kolkata Rainbow Carnival 2018’. The fair was organized by the West Bengal Forum for Gender and Sexual Minority Rights...

Insight Feb '18

Why is there still biphobia within the queer community?

By Shruti Janardhan

Gay men and lesbians need to question their own biphobia even as they fight compulsory heterosexuality argues Shruti Janardhan

This is a collage of photographs of contributors to the ‘Rainbow Manipur | Inclusive Manipur’ blog, a unique online documentation initiative that advocates inclusion of gender and sexual minorities in Manipur in different socio-economic spheres. The contributors narrate personal stories of their struggles (both failures and successes) to gain socio-economic inclusion. Clockwise from top left: Bonita Pebam (a trans woman), Thoibi and Meme (a trans man and lesbian couple), Hemba (a trans man), Prem Angom (a trans woman), Santa Khurai (transgender activist seen in a photograph of a march to protest violence against women, including transgender women), and Naresh (also a trans woman). All photographs courtesy 'Rainbow Manipur | Inclusive Manipur'

Insight Jan '18

Blogging for economic inclusion – by and for queer people

By Pawan Dhall, Boicha Huidrom

Pawan Dhall and Boicha Huidrom on 'Rainbow Manipur | Inclusive Manipur', an online documentation initiative to advocate for economic inclusion of gender and sexual minorities from grassroots to policy levels

This graphic shows a banner prepared by the national campaign against the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016. The title says “Stop Passage of the Transgender ‘Rights’ Bill, 2016” and “Uphold NALSA Judgment and Standing Committee Recommendations”. Below the title, the text says: “This Bill criminalizes traditional Hijra livelihoods and families; encodes discrimination with lower penalties for violence against transgender people; upholds a government screening committee for transgender people; has an unscientific definition of ‘transgender’, and rejects our main need for reservation, non-discrimination and prevention of atrocities.” The banner is signed off as: “All India Transgender Community – Trans Resistance, Parliament Street, New Delhi, December 17, 2017”. To the left of the banner, next to the text, and extreme right corner are drawings of a pair of hands clapping in the style often used by Hijras and other transgender women (such clapping is termed as ‘thikri’ in Bengali and often signifies assertion and protest). The entire banner has a lavender and purple coloured background with text in black and white; the pairs of hands are flesh coloured with the nails painted red. Graphic credit: All India Transgender Community – Trans Resistance Campaign

Insight Dec '17

Pushback against wrongs in Bill on transgender rights

By Sayantan Datta

The campaign against the regressive Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 is not just an unprecedented mobilization of trans communities to resist the exclusionary nature of our legal system,...

This graphic consists of pencil sketches on paper in caricature form of the faces of key actors from the films discussed in the accompanying article. The sketches are presented in two rows, one above the other. In the first row are Alia Bhatt, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan; in the second Vidya Balan, Taapsee Pannu, Amitabh Bachchan and Manoj Bajpai. The background is made up of handwritten repeat text consisting of the names of the films – ‘Aligarh’, ‘Dangal’, ‘Dear Zindagi’, ‘Kahaani 2’, and ‘Pink’. The text is in all capitals but in small point size, and seems to form an intricate pattern on which the sketches of the faces are placed. Graphic credit: Shubhrajit Roy

Cinemascope, Insight Nov '17

Cinema, commerce and causes

By Nitin Karani

Campaigns to highlight different human rights issues are just past, ongoing or round the corner. Last year saw a spate of Bollywood films on many of these issues. How true...

This main photograph provides a daytime close-up shot of a zebra crossing on a Kolkata street. On the far end the zebra crossing ends at a pavement which has no cut and slope provided for wheelchair users or easier climbing for people with physical disabilities. In the picture, to the right, a man uses the zebra crossing – he is faced away from the camera. To the left, there are three individuals standing on the pavement next to a lamp post. The pavement surface itself seems quite even, but it does not seem to be tactile in nature which would have helped people with visual disabilities. Superimposed on the photograph, to the left, is a quote from Prof. Mainak Ghosh that says: “Raise a voice about universal design! Sit down one fine evening with a cup of coffee and make a check list – am I facing any physical, cognitive or organizational difficulty at home, office or elsewhere? And if it’s not very personal, talk about it, write a blog, discuss it with your friends, family and colleagues . . .” Photo credit: Kaustav Manna

Insight Oct '17

Universal design: Your life depends on it (part 2)

By Pawan Dhall, Kaustav Manna

Concluding part of Pawan Dhall’s chat with Mainak Ghosh, Associate Professor, Architecture, Jadavpur University on how universal design relates not just to products and built spaces, but also to our...

The photograph shows Prof. Mainak Ghosh of the architecture department of Jadavpur University speaking during a presentation on universal design at a workshop on gender and disability. The photograph is accompanied by a quote from Prof. Mainak Ghosh: “Universal design is for both abled and disabled people. It’s not for just some special groups or legal compliances. It’s for everyone, everywhere, any time!” The workshop was organized by Sruti Disability Rights Centre in Kolkata in June 2017. Prof. Mainak Ghosh is standing and making a gesture with his hands to emphasize a point. He is quite tall, spectacled, and dressed in violet shirt, black trousers and brown belt. Behind him can be seen curtains, an air-conditioner and parts of a white board and a screen. Photo courtesy: Sruti Disability Rights Centre

Insight Sep '17

Universal design: Your life depends on it (part 1)

By Pawan Dhall, Kaustav Manna

Could there be anything more universal than ‘universal design’? Pawan Dhall chats with Mainak Ghosh, who is Associate Professor, Architecture with Jadavpur University, and discovers how it relates not just...

This graphic shows a collage of media headlines on the Supreme Court of India’s verdict on the Fundamental Right to Privacy. Headlines are from ‘Ei Samay’ Bengali newspaper (‘No Entry Goponiyotay’); ‘Hindustan Times’ (‘Right to Privacy: Supreme Court Judgment Mirrors People’s Aspirations’); ‘Amar Ujala’ (‘Nijta Ke Adhikar Per Supreme Court Ka Bada Faisla’); ‘The Indian Express’ (‘Privacy Supreme’); and NDTV (‘Right to Privacy Is Fundamental Right under Constitution, Declares Supreme Court’). The ‘Ei Samay’ report has an interesting graphic that shows a hand holding a huge key, with the icons of a man and a woman holding hands imprinted on the bow of the key. The ‘Indian Express’ story shows a gallery of pictures of the nine judges who came out with the verdict. Graphic credit: Pawan Dhall

Insight Aug '17

Dazzled, and hopeful – the notion of privacy for all Indians

By Vivek Divan

Vivek Divan on the commitment and flourish shown by the Honourable Supreme Court of India in rescuing the right to privacy from oblivion

Tagged Under: Insight