Deconstructing Queerness: Evolving Landscape of LGBTQ+ Community through Centuries

  • Saptarshi Mondal
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  • Saptarshi Mondal

    Student at St. Xavier's University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

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Abstract

The paper analyses the conception of queerness as something ingrained in Indian culture, which directly contrasts those who see homosexuality as a Western importation. By studying old texts, the development of morality and current views it asserts that queer is an Indigenous idea that became oppressed by colonial and traditional power. The mention of queer acts can be traced back to a lot of texts which were written between the 4th century B.C.E. to the 13th century C.E. starting from Ramayana to Babarnama. There are a lot of ancient and medieval sculpture which depicts queer acts. The transition happened in the 19th century when such cultural diversities were brutally oppressed by the colonial government. One such act was criminalizing homosexuality by section 377 of I.P.C. It wasn’t until 2018 when the Supreme Court in the case Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, decriminalized homosexuality and removed a few parts of section 377. Although queer people were no more criminals in the eyes of the law, marriage right was still not provided. Due to this in 2022 one couple Supriya Chakrabarty and Abhay Dang knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court and filed a writ petition, regarding the legal recognition of queer couples. SC in the judgement discussed many things but denied giving such rights. It further discusses the economic inequality and exclusion faced by queer individuals, who are denied basic education, employment opportunities, and access to health care. It also examines the need for constitutional principles for queer empowerment and an inclusive society. Finally, after critically analyzing all the social, political and cultural factors, a holistic picture of contemporary India is given regarding queer population.

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International Journal of Law Management and Humanities, Volume 7, Issue 4, Page 1203 - 1211

DOI: https://doij.org/10.10000/IJLMH.118124

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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution -NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits remixing, adapting, and building upon the work for non-commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.

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