Tag: Homophobia | Page 3

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 Rudrani Rajkumari

Shillong witnessed its first pride walk just a week after the Section 377 verdict. Shivalal Gautam reports

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

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!

The photograph shows a pre-dusk long shot of a public park with a walkway gently curving around a lake. There is an ornamental blue and white iron railing running along the edge of the walkway on the side facing the water. On the other side of the walkway are tall trees. The water is covered with large lotus leaves and flowers floating on the edges of the lake. The gentle ripples in the water are complemented by a cloudy sky and the serene trees that line the walkway. The walkway is made up of tiles with arc like patterns. Everything in the photograph seems to convey a sense of circularity or non-linearity. Even the linear spokes of the railing have a spiral design that adds to the overall effect of the photograph. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Poetry Jul '18

Badly bent

By Rajib Chakrabarti

Rajib Chakrabarti on the twistedness implicit in straightening out the non-linear

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 main illustration is a poster of the film ‘S.D. Saroj Dutta and His Times’. A black and white photograph of Saroj Dutta, communist intellectual and revolutionary associated with the Naxalbari movement, occupies centre space in the poster. The edges of the photograph are stylized like that of a postage stamp, with a white border framing the photograph on all sides. Saroj Dutta seems to have a rather serene look on his face. The initials ‘S.D.’ in large font coloured red are printed on the bottom left of the poster. The top right corner carries the graphic of a circular rubber stamp with the name of the film printed along the circumference and the duration mentioned in the centre (115 minutes). The poster background has a partial hand drawn outline map of India, with places where the Naxalbari movement had its bases handwritten in Bengali – in particular Naxalbari itself and Srikakulam. Several other bases of the movement in eastern India are marked on the map with small star-like jottings. More Bengali handwritten text in the background, above Saroj Dutta’s head, says that the Naxalbari movement aims to show a way forward to the downtrodden masses in society. Text printed below Saroj Dutta’s photograph prominently mentions the names of the filmmakers Kasturi Basu and Mitali Biswas. Other film credits follow in smaller text in three lines. The poster also mentions that the film is in Bangla with English sub-titles. Poster courtesy: Facebook page of ‘S.D. Saroj Dutta and His Times’

Vartanama May '18

Cinema of questioning the world order

By Pawan Dhall

The summers just got that much more intense with some gripping cinema!

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 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 shows a snapshot of a Bengali article titled ‘Chhaichapa Fire’ (Fire That Would Be Worthless to Try and Douse) by Sanjukta Basu published in ‘Ananda Bazar Patrika’ newspaper on April 3, 1999. The photograph shows a portion of the article text (including the headline), with a black and white sketch (by artist Debasish Deb) more or less centre stage. The sketch shows two women with long flowing hair and sharp facial features holding and looking at each other. A one-line article introduction below the sketch translates into “Homosexuals in the heart of the city are forming clubs to seek social acceptance, writes Sanjukta Basu”. The sketch may not be remarkable by many standards, but the article in question created quite a buzz in the queer activism circles in Kolkata in the late 1990s. It helped the city’s queer support groups reach out to thousands of individuals through letters and one-on-one meetings. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Commentary, From the Archives Jun '17

Memories in media outings (part 2)

By Pawan Dhall

In 'Kolkata’s Queer Movement: A Recollection of Media Outings – Mid-1984 to Mid-2013' Pawan Dhall remembers his personal queer-story over the years

This first (main) photograph shows a bespectacled and curly haired Dr. Rohit K. Dasgupta smiling into the camera. It is daytime, and the photograph has been taken outdoors. Behind Dr. Rohit K. Dasgupta the river Thames and a few buildings of London can be seen. There is a bridge across the river and a small ship in the waters. Towards the right, a few people are walking on a rather gravelly river bank. Dr. Rohit K. Dasgupta is wearing a brown jacket and a scarf with a checks print. The photograph is accompanied by a quote of Dr. Rohit K. Dasgupta, which says: “I wasn’t planning to stand as a parliamentary candidate. But when Brexit happened, it was absolutely devastating for an internationalist like me. I have made England my home for the last eight years, and as an academic I also think it’s a civic duty for us to be engaging with the public. That was the reason I threw my hat into the ring . . .” Photo courtesy Dr. Rohit K. Dasgupta

Insight, People May '17

Voice of reason with Kolkata connect in UK polls

By Pawan Dhall

Comparative literature studies to researching and teaching gender, sexuality and digital media; Kolkata to London; and now a step into the UK general elections arena on a Labour Party ticket...

This first (main) photograph shows the book launch ceremony during the event ‘Books, Films and IDAHOBIT 2017’ organized at the Alliance Francaise du Bengale Park Street centre in Kolkata on May 4, 2017. Dr. Rohit K. Dasgupta, Pawan Dhall and Stephane Amalir (standing from left to right) can be seen holding the two books launched, smiling and facing the cameras in the audience. The books launched were ‘Digital Queer Cultures in India – Politics, Intimacies and Belonging’ and ‘Social Media, Sexuality and Sexual Health Advocacy in Kolkata, India’. The first was authored by Dr. Rohit K. Dasgupta, Lecturer in Media and Creative Industries at Loughborough University, UK. The second was co-authored by Dr. Rohit K. Dasgupta and Pawan Dhall, queer activist and Founding Trustee, Varta Trust. Stephane Amalir is Director, Alliance Francaise du Bengale. In the background is a screen projection of a graphic highlighting the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. Photo credit: Arunabha Hazra

Happenings May '17

Digital media, queer lives and ‘Indian-ness’

By Kaustav Manna, Arunabha Hazra

Two books on the relationship between digital media and queer lives were launched recently in Kolkata. The event was part of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia observations....

Word cloud in the shape of a thought blurb on the theme of the new mental health legislation – it includes words like ‘advance directives’, ‘choice’, ‘dignity’, ‘insurance’, ‘LGBTIQ’, ‘mental health’, ‘legislation’, ‘quality’, ‘suicide’ and ‘treatment’. Graphic credit: Pawan Dhall

Insight, Policy Matters Apr '17

New mental health law: Act of dignity?

By Pallav Bonerjee

Pallav Bonerjee assesses India’s brand new mental health legislation, the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. The spring of 2017 brought along with it much needed relief and cause for celebration for...

Happenings Mar '17

(Un)equal before the law?

By Danish Sheikh

Danish Sheikh on the launch of a report on obstacles to justice faced by queer people in India Delhi, February 24, 2017: The International Commission of Jurists today launched a report titled “Unnatural Offences”...

Happenings Dec '16

Kolkata pride calls for laws that respect human rights

By Kolkata Rainbow Pride Festival

The 15th edition of the ‘Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk’ is planned for December 11, 2016 – exactly three years since the infamous Supreme Court of India verdict on Section 377,...

Commentary Nov '16

Privilege 101: Your handy primer to oppression and privilege

By Asmita Ghosh

Asmita Ghosh wants us to acknowledge and push back our social privileges, often invisible to our own eyes but painfully evident to those denied the same This article was originally published on Feminism...

Tagged Under: Homophobia

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

Badly bent

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

Cinema of questioning the world order

To school, with fear . . . of confessions!

Why is there still biphobia within the queer community?

Cinema, commerce and causes

Memories in media outings (part 2)

Voice of reason with Kolkata connect in UK polls

Digital media, queer lives and ‘Indian-ness’

New mental health law: Act of dignity?

(Un)equal before the law?

Kolkata pride calls for laws that respect human rights

Privilege 101: Your handy primer to oppression and privilege

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