Hindu views of homosexuality, and LGBT issues more generally, are diverse and different Hindu groups have distinct views. A number of Hindu texts have portrayed homosexual experience as natural and joyful, the Kamasutra affirms and recognizes same-sex relations, and there are several Hindu temples which have carvings that depict both men and women engaging in homosexual acts. There are also numerous Hindu deities that are shown to be gender-fluid and falling into the LGBT spectrum. Same-sex relations and gender variance have been represented within Hinduism from Vedic times through to the present day, in rituals, law books, religious or narrative mythologies, commentaries, paintings, and even sculptures. In 2009, the Delhi High Court legalised homosexuality in India, but the Supreme Court of India subsequently overturned the high court's decision. The Supreme Court of India, in a later ruling in 2018, reversed its previous verdict and decriminalised homosexual intercourse and relationships.
Fire is a 1996 Indo-Canadian erotic romantic drama film written and directed by Deepa Mehta, starring Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das. It is the first installment of Mehta's Elements trilogy; it is succeeded by Earth (1998) and Water (2005).
Madhu Purnima Kishwar is an Indian academic and a commentator. She is currently employed as a chair Professor in the Indian Council of Social Science Research. Kishwar along with fellow-academic Ruth Vanita co-founded the journal Manushi.
Rinki Roy Bhattacharya is an Indian writer, columnist and documentary filmmaker. Daughter of film director Bimal Roy, she was married to Basu Bhattacharya and collaborated on his films. She is the vice-chairperson of the Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) and the founder chairperson of Bimal Roy Memorial & Film Society. As a freelance journalist, she has been writing extensively on films, theatre, art and feminist issues, for publications of the The Times Group, The Telegraph, The Hindu and The Indian Express.
Ruth Vanita is an Indian academic, activist and author who specialises in British and Indian literary history with a focus on gender and sexuality studies. She also teaches and writes on Hindu philosophy.
Feminism in India is a set of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and opportunities for women in India. It is the pursuit of women's rights within the society of India. Like their feminist counterparts all over the world, feminists in India seek gender equality: the right to work for equal wages, the right to equal access to health and education, and equal political rights. Indian feminists also have fought against culture-specific issues within India's patriarchal society, such as inheritance laws.
Gentleman was an English language literary magazine published in India from 1980 to 2001. Its founder-editor was Minhaz Merchant of the Sterling Publications, which sold this and other magazines to the Indian Express Group in 1987. It was edited and published by Sambit Bal and Rajib Sarkar.
The Elements trilogy is a trilogy of films by Indian film-maker Deepa Mehta, dealing with controversial issues of social reform on the Indian subcontinent. Fire, the first release in 1996, dealt with issues of arranged marriage and homosexuality in the patriarchal culture of India. Earth, released in 1998, dealt with the religious strife associated with the partition of India and formation of Pakistan in the mid-20th century. Water, released in 2005, was the most critically successful of the three, and dealt with suicide, misogyny, and the mistreatment of widows in rural India.
Trikone is a non-profit support, social, and political organization for South Asian bisexual, lesbian, gay, and transgender people. It was founded in 1986 in the San Francisco Bay Area and is one of the oldest groups of its kind in the world. South Asians affiliated with Trikone are from or trace their ancestry to the following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tibet. Trikone published an eponymous magazine with an international base of subscribers several times a year. The magazine was the oldest South Asian LGBT magazine in the U.S., and ran from 1986 to 2014.
Kṛttivāsī Rāmāyaṇ,; also called Śrīrām Pãcālī, composed by the fifteenth-century Bengali poet Krittibas Ojha, from whom it takes its name, is a rendition of the Rāmāyaṇa into Bengali. Written in the traditional Rāmāyaṇa Pā̃cālī form of Middle Bengali literature, the Kṛttivāsī Rāmāyaṇ is not just a rewording of the original Indian epic, but also a vivid reflection of the society and culture of Bengal across the period of its circulation, from the Middle Ages into the modern period. It was characterised by Dinesh Chandra Sen in 1911 as 'by far the most popular book in Bengal' and 'the Bible of the people of the Gangetic Valley'.
Zakhmi Aurat is a 1988 Indian Hindi movie starring Dimple Kapadia and Raj Babbar and directed by Avtar Bhogal. Kapadia played Kiran Dutt, a police officer who is subject to gang rape and, when the judicial system fails to convict the criminals, unites with other rape victims to castrate the rapists in revenge. A financial success, the film opened to a polarised reaction from critics and further attracted wide coverage for its lengthy and brutal rape scene involving Kapadia. Khalid Mohammed of The Times of India noted Kapadia's "power packed performance" but criticised the rape sequence as "utter lasciviousness" and "vulgarity spattering through the screen". Feminist magazine Manushi panned its low cinematic quality, including the absurdity of the action scenes and the "ugly kind of titillation" in the rape scene, but believed it "stays closer to women's experience" than other films of its sort; the review was particularly approving of Kapadia's work: "What really carries the film through is Dimple Kapadia's performance—low key, moving and charming without being at all clinging or seductive. She brings a conviction to her role that is rare among Bombay heroines." In later years, The Times of India labelled it a "B-grade movie" though it noted Kapadia's convincing portrayal of "anguish and bitterness at being denied justice". M.L. Dhawan from The Tribune, while documenting the famous Hindi films of 1988, praised Kapadia for "proving her mettle as an actress of intensity and passion." Subhash Jha, however, wrote in 2002 that its box-office outcome notwithstanding, Zakhmi Aurat "turned into quite an embarrassment for its leading lady".
Renana Jhabvala is an Indian social worker based in Ahmedabad, India, who has been active for decades in organising women into organisations and trade unions in India, and has been extensively involved in policy issues relating to poor women and the informal economy. She is best known for her long association with the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), India, and for her writings on issues of women in the informal economy.
India has a limited culture for LGBTQIA people due to widespread stigma, stemming from ancient Indian culture, in the modern-day populace. However living conditions and media representation have been improving in recent years, especially in terms of representation of transgender people.
This is a timeline of notable events in the history of non-heterosexual conforming people of South Asian ancestry, who may identify as LGBTIQGNC, men who have sex with men, or related culturally-specific identities such as Hijra, Aravani, Thirunangaigal, Khwajasara, Kothi, Thirunambigal, Jogappa, Jogatha, or Shiva Shakti. The recorded history traces back at least two millennia.
Rekhti, is a form of Urdu feminist poetry. A genre developed by male poets, it uses women's voices to talk about themselves. It was formed in 19th-century Lucknow, then part of the State of Awadh. The poet Saadat Yaar Khan Rangin is credited with its creation.
Uma Bhatt is an Indian scholar, writer, and founder-editor of a magazine for women. She is involved in political issues in her home state of Uttarakhand
Radhika Chandiramani is the founder of TARSHI, a New Delhi-based NGO that works on issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights. She is a clinical psychologist, writer and editor. Her published works on sexuality and human rights have been covered in media and scholarly reviews. Chandiramani received the MacArthur Fellowship in the year 1995 for leadership development. She is also the recipient of the 2003 Soros Reproductive Health and Rights Fellowship from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Manushi Chhillar is an Indian actress, model and the winner of Miss World 2017 pageant. She represented the state of Haryana at the Femina Miss India 2017 pageant in which she won. Chhillar is the sixth representative from India to win the Miss World pageant. She will make her film debut in the upcoming historical drama Prithviraj.
Pandey Bechan Sharma, better known by his pen-name Ugra was an Indian writer noted for his provocative, usually satirical, journalism, fiction and autobiography.
