Follow this page for announcements on online interactive sessions on a variety of issues around gender and sexuality.
Among other activities, we will attempt to bring you sessions where you (as health and legal aid service users) can interact with queer-friendly service providers and pose your questions and doubts. To begin with, the sessions will be in the nature of public events; over time we will also try to organize one-on-one chat sessions with service providers.
Webinar #11: ‘Marriage under the Indian Rainbow: An Elusive Dream or a Future Possibility?’, November 8, 2023, 7.00-8.30 pm IST: On October 17, 2023, the Supreme Court of India dealt out a judgment on whether the right to marry could be granted to trans and queer couples. The decision was handed down by a five-judge constitutional bench, and while there was a lot of sympathy and empathy shown towards trans and queer people, the decision did not exactly leave the onlookers with a lot of confidence.
While the decision was not unexpected, what did not follow was a roadmap for the way ahead. For instance, while the instruction to the central government to form a high-powered committee to assess the concerns of trans and queer individuals and couples was indeed a good step forward, no deadlines were set, thus creating a sense of unaccountability when it comes to future legislative inaction. Hence, what next? Where do we head from here?
Can we utilize parts of the decision to empower the trans and queer communities? How can we use judicial sympathy to bolster and buttress anti-discrimination measures? How do we create greater accountability in the institutions that do not allow us to exercise the few rights that we already have?
This webinar will look at possible legal futurities of the decision, while also looking at how it has impacted the Indian trans and queer communities.
Speakers: Aritra Chatterjee (she/her), clinical psychologist; Kaushik Gupta (he/him), advocate and sexual rights activist; and Namrata Mukherjee (she/they), lawyer and academic.
Moderator: Debjyoti Ghosh (he/him), queer activist, human rights lawyer, and social researcher affiliated with the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
This is a collaborative initiative of SAATHII, Sappho for Equality, and Varta Trust. The discussion will be in a mix of English and Bengali.
Please register here for the webinar to be conducted over Zoom. If you do not feel comfortable giving your name, please provide a pseudonym.
Watch the video recording of the webinar here.
See Varta webzine article Anti-discrimination Mantra for Long and Happy Trans and Queer Lives (Married or Not) by Namrata here. Read more articles in Varta on queer relationships and marriage equality in India here.
Webinar #10: ‘Realizing Our Rights – Making Laws Work’, July 3, 2022: In this third of Varta Trust’s panel discussions to mark the pride season, Debjyoti Ghosh, human rights lawyer and postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Sociology, University of Pretoria, South Africa, will be in conversation with prominent speakers from the fields of social work and law. Attend the panel and participate in the discussion over Zoom on July 3, 2022 from 11.00 am to 12.00 noon.
Register for attending the panel here.
Watch the video recording of the panel discussion here.
Webinar #9: ‘Queer Affirmative Therapy and Counselling Practices’, June 26, 2022: In this second of Varta Trust’s panel discussions to mark the Pride Month, Debjyoti Ghosh, human rights lawyer and postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Sociology, University of Pretoria, South Africa, will be in conversation with prominent speakers from the fields of mental health, medical practice and intersex activism. Attend the panel and participate in the discussion over Zoom on June 26, 2022 from 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm.
Register for attending the panel here.
Watch the video recording of the panel discussion here.
Webinar #8: ‘It Is My Kind of Love: Polyamory and Going beyond Monogamous Love in Relationships’, June 17, 2022: In this first of Varta Trust’s panel discussions to mark the Pride Month, Debjyoti Ghosh, human rights lawyer and postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Sociology, University of Pretoria, South Africa, will be in conversation with prominent speakers from the fields of filmmaking, art, journalism and mental health. Attend the panel and participate in the discussion over Zoom on June 17, 2022 from 7.00 pm to 8.00 pm.
Register for attending the panel here.
Watch the video recording of the panel discussion here. Read summary of the webinar in the article Of Life and Many Loves written by Debjyoti Ghosh and Arkadeepra Purkayastha published in the June 2022 issue of Varta.
Webinar #7: ‘Bridging Academia and Activism: Stories from the Margins’, May 28, 2022: A panel discussion to mark the completion of 100 monthly issues of Varta webzine in April this year. Dr. Kaustav Bakshi, Associate Professor, Department of English, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, himself a contributor to the webzine, will be in conversation with six other frequent contributors to the webzine. Attend the panel and participate in the discussion over Zoom on May 28, 2022 from 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm.
Register for attending the panel here.
Watch the video recording of the panel discussion here.
Webinar #6: ‘Social Media Skills: Instagram’, March 19, 2022: Suchandra Das, Proprietor, Suchandragraphy and Touchstone Media, Kolkata and mentor with the Varta Economic Inclusion Mentoring Forum, will provide a quick technical overview of Instagram features, share tips on optimizing your content on Instagram, and share insight on how to promote your professional profile, skills and business on Instagram. Participate in a training session over Zoom on March 19, 2022 from 11.00 am to 12.30 pm IST.
Register for the free training session here.
Please click here to view the video recording of the training session.
Webinar #5: ‘MS Excel Workshop’, March 5 and 12, 2022: Sujoy Das, Bangalore-based financial analyst, trainer and mentor with the Varta Economic Inclusion Mentoring Forum, will take you through effective usage of Microsoft Excel software. Learn the different Microsoft Excel tools and pick up data entry and formatting tips. Participate in a series of two training sessions over Zoom on March 5 and 12, 2022 from 10.30 am to 1.00 pm IST.
Register for the free training sessions here.
Please click here to view the video recording of the training session on March 5, 2022, and here for the recording of the training session on March 12, 2022.
Webinar #4: ‘CV Development Workshop’, February 12, 2022: Ashish Chopra, Human Resource, Google India and Founder, BeUnic (a community-oriented e-commerce platform that enables queer artists and designers to offer their products and services) will share tips on the content, language and presentation that go into making a smart CV and LinkedIn profile. Participate in a training session over Zoom on February 12, 2022, Saturday, from 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm IST.
Register for the free training session here.
Please click here to view the video recording of the training session.
Webinar #3: ‘Social Media Skills: Facebook’, February 4, 2022: Suchandra Das, Proprietor, Suchandragraphy and Touchstone Media, Kolkata and mentor with the Varta Economic Inclusion Mentoring Forum, will share insight on how to promote your professional profile, skills, and business on Facebook; tips on public engagement on Facebook; and optimal use of privacy and security settings on Facebook. Participate in a training session over Zoom on February 4, 2022 from 11.00 am to 12.30 pm IST.
Register for the free training session here.
Please click here to view the video recording of the training session.
Webinar #2: ‘Basics of Microsoft Word Usage’, January 8 and 15, 2022: Sujoy Das, Bangalore-based financial analyst, trainer and mentor with the Varta Economic Inclusion Mentoring Forum, will take you through effective usage of Microsoft Word software. Pick up tips on how to use different features of the software to prepare smart looking CVs, reports and other documents. Participate in a series of two training sessions over Zoom on January 8 and 15, 2022 from 10.30 am to 12 noon IST.
Register for the free training sessions here.
Please click here to view the video recording of the training session on January 8, 2022, and here for the recording of the training session on January 15, 2022.
See also Varta webzine articles Mentoring the Queer Case for Economic Inclusion by Varta Economic Inclusion Mentoring Forum here and Skills, Jobs and Freedoms by Debjyoti Ghosh here.
Webinar #1: 'Marriages under the Indian Rainbow', March 29, 2020: Hear what Debjyoti Ghosh, a human rights lawyer from Kolkata, Varta Trust volunteer and post-doctoral researcher with the Future Africa Project, University of Pretoria, South Africa, has to say about the legality of queer marriages in India. Pose your queries during a 45-minute webinar on Jitsi Meet with him on March 29, 2020 from 12 noon to 12.45 pm IST.
Register for the free webinar here.
Please click here to listen to the audio recording of the webinar, and here to access the presentation made by Debjyoti Ghosh. See also Varta webzine articles Winds of Change in Marriage Law? by Mihika Poddar here, and Marriage Equality – Petitions, Pushback and Politics by Namrata and Shreyashi here. Read more articles in Varta on queer relationships and marriage equality in India here and scroll up this page for more webinars on the same issues.
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