Queer history?

Folks message me asking what book they should read to understand queer history. If you are trying to understand gender and sexuality, it is not history. You are trying to understand queer identities. But the answer for the queer history is — there isn’t one single comprehensive book or resource that could be pointed out. It is all over. It is with people — only in their memories, and most have been erased or not documented at all. The most prominent visible narrative is the legal fight against Section 377. And there are multiple behind the scene contributions which aren’t known to others except the folks involved in it. Then there is the aspect of people not able to be out, and any narrative associated with them has its own challenge of being not ‘complete’. The narrative associated with s377 is also dominated with the NGOs version. And then there is the NGO documentation of their outreach and crisis support, which are important, but at the same time is limited and not ‘complete’. Many conversations hidden in the closed groups, and mailing lists.

Most folks associated with the queer discourse are still alive. And there is the politics of not acknowledging. Interpersonal issues, political views etc etc. Some of us came early on in this journey, some of us joined later, some dropped in between, some disappeared. But all of us are important part of what would be tomorrow. If I were you, I would turn to individuals. How much do we know about the folks who stood against the Hindutva forces who protested against the film Fire? People who supported and rescued individuals during crisis. The stories are many and is scattered all around. And the landscape of India means that there are multiple narratives and timelines for different states.

The issue I see today is that we all try to fit the queer discourse in what we understand today. Trying to fit into a narrative that the cis-heterocentric world could comprehend. For those you seek resource to understand queer history in India, all I have to say is, talk to people. Especially individuals, collectives not associated with NGOs, zines, search for blogs which many queer folks have written that are not noticed. This is where you will find stories that aren’t ‘mainstream’. Only if you take the effort the understand you could weave a narrative and realise that there is more to the rainbow and what you see today.