Tag: Homophobia | Varta Trust

This main graphic is a sketch of a person who appears genderqueer – they have flowing crinkly hair framing the face, stark wide open eyes with gracefully arched eyebrows, luscious lips, and a face outline that cannot be discerned as typically masculine or feminine. While the person’s sketch is in simple sharp lines of black and fills up the graphic frame, it is overlaid with abstract and flowing patterns in pink, yellow, green and blue, with white spaces balancing out the colours. There is a fluorescent touch in the riot of colours. But the person’s eyes seem to peer out from behind the colours and gaze at the reader. The sketch is drawn with pen ink on off-white paper, while the coloured patterns have been created with highlighter marker pens. The graphic has a thick border that works as a frame. The graphic is undated. Graphic credit: Anupam Hazra

Poetry

May '19

Purdah

By Rajib Chakrabarti

Sniggers at androgyny are a poor purdah on our insecurities, says Rajib Chakrabarti

This photograph shows a poster held up by a participant at a rally in Kolkata on September 16, 2018 to celebrate the Supreme Court’s verdict reading down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. The poster, prepared by the Jadavpur University Queer Collective, simply says “Bhalobashar aajadi” in Bengali, which translates as ‘freedom to love’. The text is written in big bold letters in red on a white chart paper. The initials JUQC are mentioned on the bottom right corner. The poster fills up the main part of the photograph, with only the hands and a part of the participant’s head visible on the edges of the poster. In the background more participants can be seen. Photo credit: Kaushik Gupta

Advice - Rights and Laws

Feb '19

Police cannot stop consensual cohabitation between two queer adults

By Debayan N. Sen

Debayan N. Sen assures that consensual cohabitation by same-sex couples is not a crime Reader queries I’m a gay man . . . recently my partner and I have been...

Quote: On the question of recovery – yes, it’s absolutely possible to recover from the effect of incest and child sexual abuse. The effects of abuse can be damaging but they don’t have to be permanent. Recovery begins with the survivor acknowledging that they were abused, that their life is affected by what happened, and deciding to do something about it.

QA - Child Sexual Abuse

Dec '18

On recovering from effects of incest and child sexual abuse

By RAHI Foundation

RAHI Foundation continues to answer your queries on incest and child sexual abuse Reader queries What can be the long term effects of incest and child sexual abuse? Is...

This photograph shows a scene from the starting point of the first ‘Shillong Pride Walk’ organized on September 14, 2018. The walk started at Fire Brigade Point. In the photograph, nine walk participants can be seen standing in a row, cheering and holding a large and flowing rainbow pride flag in front of them. The participants seem to be a mix of different genders. Some of them have smaller rainbow pride paper flags in their hands, while some are sporting colourful headgear. Among the participants are the author Shivalal Gautam at the extreme right end and advocate and Shamakami NGO founder Rebina Subba third from right. The participants seem to be standing in an open area and behind them can be seen some buildings, trees, a partition created by asbestos sheets and a tent like structure behind the partition. The sky above is grey and somewhat overcast. Photo courtesy: ‘Shillong Pride Walk’ organizers

Happenings

Oct '18

Rainbow pride debut wins hearts in Shillong, trumps rain and public hostility

By Shivalal Gautam

Shillong witnessed its first pride walk just a week after the Section 377 verdict. Shivalal Gautam reports Shillong, September 14, 2018: Shillong today defied rain and public hostility to become the...

The photograph shows a game in progress as part of a child sexual abuse awareness generation workshop organized by RAHI Foundation at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata in 2015. The participants, around 10 in number, are all older adolescents or young adults (most of them young women). The venue is an indoor one. The game seems to be focussed on team work and coordination. The participants, standing side-by-side in a long chain, are barefoot and have their ankles tied to the person next to them on either side with pieces of cloth. With hands held or placed over each other’s shoulders, they are required to step forward together into hooplas placed on the floor. The participants seem to be all cheerful and having good fun in the process. Behind the participants is a banner that says “RAHI Foundation Youth Community Programme on Child Sexual Abuse, Kolkata

QA - Child Sexual Abuse

Oct '18

Opening up to facts about incest and child sexual abuse

By RAHI Foundation

RAHI Foundation on prevention, age and sexuality nuances of incest / child sexual abuse Reader queries What can one do to prevent child sexual abuse? Worried parent, Delhi ...

This is a close-up shot of a Remington portable typewriter gifted to the author on his birthday by his father in 1991. For several years the author used this typewriter for his writings on queer issues and associated movements, including the challenges posed by Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. By 1997, the author completely moved on to personal computers, first at his workplace and then at home as well. The photograph shows the carriage, carriage release lever, platen, ribbon spools, typebars and keyboard of the typewriter, all held together in a bright red plastic body and black case. The cover, also black in colour, can also be seen partially in the background. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Vartanama

Sep '18

About constitutional love and great expectations

By Pawan Dhall

High fives and hugs yes, but the Section 377 verdict is by no means about closures! It took my father nearly 20 years to come to terms with my sexuality....

This main photograph shows pictures of B. Kumar and Rudra Kishore Mandal, the two interviewees for this article, from their earlier, youthful days. They are both all smiles in their respective photographs. B. Kumar’s photograph is accompanied with a dialogue cloud that says: “I used to keep boys away because they wanted to reach the girls through me, and I don’t want to play a second fiddle, but I would like to be a first fiddle!” Similarly, a dialogue cloud along with Rudra Kishore Mandal’s photograph says: “I used to scribble on the walls, I used to draw, and that was one of my biggest escapes from the reality around me, and I don’t know why I needed to escape but there was always this feeling that I’m not fitting in somewhere.” Photo credits: Rudra Kishore Mandal’s personal collection

People
Qatha

Jun '18

Qatha: On the uses of ‘sil-batta’ to make you straight & more queer tales (part 1)

By Pawan Dhall, Soma Roy Karmakar

Varta brings you the next series of articles under the ‘Queer Kolkata Oral History Project’ This is an initiative to document five decades...

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...

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 article was originally published on Feminism in India and re-published here with...

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

Nov '17

Cinema, commerce and causes

By Nitin Karani

Campaigns and dates to highlight different human rights issues are just past, ongoing or round the corner. Last year saw a spate of Bollywood films with leading actors that portrayed...

Tagged Under: Homophobia

Purdah

Police cannot stop consensual cohabitation between two queer adults

On recovering from effects of incest and child sexual abuse

Rainbow pride debut wins hearts in Shillong, trumps rain and public hostility

Opening up to facts about incest and child sexual abuse

About constitutional love and great expectations

Qatha: On the uses of ‘sil-batta’ to make you straight & more queer tales (part 1)

To school, with fear . . . of confessions!

Why is there still biphobia within the queer community?

Cinema, commerce and causes

Queer Friendly Health and Legal Services

Support Us

Bookmarks

Subscribe

USEFUL LINKS

WEBSITE ARCHIVES

CONTACT US

Warning