Tag: Section 377 | Varta Trust

This photograph is a selfie shot taken by the author at an event organized by NGOs SAATHII and Thoughtshop Foundation to mark the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s verdict on Section 377, Indian Penal Code. The event was organized at Thoughtshop Foundation’s meeting space in Kolkata on September 6, 2019, exactly one year since the verdict. The participants included around 50 individuals associated with the youth groups that Thoughtshop Foundation works with. Staff members of the two NGOs were also present. A diversity of genders and sexualities was represented at the gathering. The author shot the photograph with the phone in his right hand. A part of his smiling face peers and looks up into the camera, with around 30 other participants to his left, some seated and others on their feet. While half of them are smiling at the camera, flashing victory signs, the other half are smiling and waving excitedly at another photographer, who is not visible in the photograph. Overall, it is a photograph with much happening and with everyone in a celebratory mood. The top right hand corner of the photograph has a small inset photo of a large chocolate cake that was cut on the occasion. The icing on the cake says “One year of breaking free 377”. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall"

Vartanama

Sep '19

Explorations of ‘self’ pride beyond Section 377

By Pawan Dhall

Stories of pride may be tucked away from all the rainbow glitter going around

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...

This photograph is symbolic in relation to the article below. It shows an evening scene of a Kolkata road. The foreground is quite desolate and somewhat dark. To the left of the photograph, there is a man walking with a limp by the side of the road (the man is walking away from the camera). Ahead of him is a car parked on the road, but there are no moving vehicles in the foreground. On a poorly lit pavement next to the road, a woman can be seen washing some utensils on the kerb near what looks like a roadside eatery, though there are no customers in sight. To the right of the photograph, a Kolkata Police movable traffic barrier is placed in the middle of the road, with no apparent sense of purpose. In contrast with this scenario, in some distance one can see bustling traffic at a junction, bright lights from the vehicles zipping past and lit-up ad kiosks mounted on lamp posts. The junction is bathed in overhead halogen lights. But the sky and the trees overhead are dark and seem quiet in relation to the rushed activity below. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Vartanama

Dec '18

Alienation, mindfulness and the New Year

By Pawan Dhall

Some ruminations as 2019 takes off from where 2018 never stopped . . . A year with a landmark human rights development such as the decriminalization of queer people in India just...

This graphic has text that says “Women’s and Transgender Communities’ Manifesto released on the occasion of early elections to the Telangana Assembly in 2018 – Demanding Women’s Rights, Comprehensive Gender Sensitive Policies and Empowerment of All Women”. The text is borrowed from the cover page of the manifesto document. The words are presented in a large and clear font in deep blue colour on a light grey background of a rectangular text box with rounded edges. The text box itself is placed in a striking slant on a wavy blue rectangular background. The entire graphic has been provided a pleasing and eye-catching mosaic tiles effect using the Adobe Photoshop software.

Vartanama

Dec '18

What’s with the pacific calm?

By Pawan Dhall

Post-Section 377 verdict, where’s the impatience to demand more rights, asks Pawan Dhall

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 I was originally going to write about what a wonderful verdict that the Supreme Court of...

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...

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 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 When India became independent, it inherited several British legacies. They included, among other things, magnificent colonial...

This is a daytime photograph that shows a group of six queer activists in Imphal celebrating the Supreme Court’s verdict on Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code on September 6, 2018. They are all on the road outside the Manipur Press Club in Imphal. Some of them are holding a banner that says “6th September 2018: A new day for a new life with a new hope, Manipur Press Club, Imphal”. In two different places on the banner, the text “Sec 377” is shown crossed out symbolizing the reading down of the law. The background of the banner shows the rainbow colours in the form of gentle overlapping waves. Two of the activists are sitting or kneeling down to the left side of the banner and smiling at the camera. Photo credit: Randhoni Lairikyengbam

Happenings

Sep '18

Queer communities celebrate Supreme Court verdict on Section 377

By Queer individuals and groups in India

The apex court takes a huge first step towards ensuring social justice for queer people in India Delhi / Bhubaneswar / Kolkata / Imphal, September 6, 2018: As members and allies...

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).

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 Kolkata, August 4, 2018: “With only 3,827 government and private sector psychiatrists registered with the government in India...

Tagged Under: Section 377

Explorations of ‘self’ pride beyond Section 377

Police cannot stop consensual cohabitation between two queer adults

Alienation, mindfulness and the New Year

What’s with the pacific calm?

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

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

About constitutional love and great expectations

When the Constitution came out in flaming rainbow colours!

Queer communities celebrate Supreme Court verdict on Section 377

Symposium on queering mental health

Queer Friendly Health and Legal Services

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