“As a queer person, I reject the words norm, normal, normative, and normativity. I want to dismantle and not maintain the status quo. Queerness is the road to Utopia.”
These are the words spoken by Prof. R Raj Rao in a TEDx event in Pune. Prof. Rao is a prolific Indian author writing in English and a leading activist for the LGBTQIA community in India. He is a poet, novelist, playwright and a writer of non-fiction. He has been a professor of English for thirty years. He was the head of the English department at Savitribai Phule Pune University. He started the Queer Studies Circle in Pune. He was one of the first to run a course on LGBTQ literature in the department at Pune University.
His first novel ‘Boyfriend’ was published by Penguin India. The novel talks about a love affair between two men from different classes, castes and generations. The novel made waves and shocked many. It was talked about and discussed in many circles in India. His collection of poems, ‘BOMgAY’ inspired the first gay film in India named ‘Bomgay’. His works include the biography of Nissim Ezekiel; Slideshow; Images of Indian novel in English; One day I locked my flat in soul city; Hostel Room 131; Whistling in the dark; Lady Lolita’s lover; Criminal Love? Queer Theory, Culture and Politics in India; Madam, Give Me My Sex; National Anthem and Other Poems.
Prof. Rao has been a key speaker in three conferences organised by ELTIS-SIFIL. On the occasion of Pride month and the launch of the new ELTIS-SIFIL blog, we asked some questions to Prof. Rao.
Q1. Many people are unaware about Queer Literature in India. Which books would you recommend to someone who has never read anything from Queer Literature?
Ans: The list is long and I have a detailed bibliography that I can share with all the readers. For starters, however, I would recommend the following books:
1. Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai eds., Same Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History (Macmillan)
2. Hoshang Merchant ed., Yaraana: Gay Writing from India (Penguin)
3. Ashwini Sukthankar ed., Facing the Mirror: Lesbian Writing from India (Penguin)
4. R. Raj Rao, The Boyfriend (Penguin)
5. R. Raj Rao, Criminal Love? Queer Theory, Culture and Politics in India (Sage)
6. Laxminarayan Tripathi, Me Hijra, Me Laxmi, transl. R. Raj Rao and P. G. Joshi (OUP)
7. A. Revathi, The Truth About Me: A Hijra Life Story transl. V. Geetha (Penguin)
Q2. How has the scrapping of Article 377 affected the LGBTQIA community in India?
Ans: The reading down of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to exclude consenting adult homosexuals from its purview has of course made the LGBTQIA+ community jubilant. It has encouraged many young homosexual men and women, and transgender and intersex people to come out of the closet. However, much more needs to be done. The changed law does not necessarily imply a change of mindset. Indians tend to be traditional and conservative, and need to be educated about same sex relationships. Some people in the community say that the changed law does not make much of a difference unless gay marriage is also legalized. To them, this should be next on our agenda. In my own case, I have also said that I prefer to be an 'outlaw' and a 'criminal' as I technically was when Section 377 was in place. This is because utopias are more easily achieved by resisting voices, than by those who are co-opted by the establishment. My views on this may be accessed on YouTube in my Ted Ex talk of 2018.
Q3. J K Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, is currently in the news for her tweets about the Transgender community. What are your thoughts on it?
Ans: I'm afraid I'm not aware of J. K. Rowling's tweets on the transgender community, so I'll have to pass on this question. However, for more on the transgender community in India, including transwomen and transmen, you may access my Nehru Memorial Museum and Library public lecture of 2019, available on YouTube. Laxmi's and Revathi's autobiographies are also important works in this regard.
Q4. What are your thoughts on the way Queer community is showcased in the films?
Ans: Recently, I did a webinar on queer Bollywood. You can catch it on Facebook and You Tube. There are many aspects to the way queerness is addressed in films. In mainstream films, gay characters tend to be stereotyped as men with effeminate mannerisms and so on, and this needs to change. A more informed cinema in India is now slowly emerging. Metro cities also have their annual LGBTQIA film festivals, which tend to showcase intelligent and tasteful gay films from all over the world. The most important of these film fests is Kashish, held in Bombay in the last week of May. The curator is Sridhar Rangayan. Registration is free.
YouTube links for Prof. Rao’s lectures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMIuFl3m_U4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YNphUDFMsk
This was our last article for the theme ‘Pride Month’. Pride Month is celebrated all over the world in June to commemorate the riots that occurred in New York in 1969. Parades and events are held all around the world to celebrate the LGBTQIA community and to throw a light on the loves of people of this community. Article 377 that was introduced by the Britishers in 1860 was dehumanising and fringed upon the right to choose. It was finally abolished in September 2018 by a special bench of 5 judges of the Supreme Court.
Alan Turing. the mastermind who cracked Enigma, had to die because he was gay. Millions of people face and have faced hatred and discrimination every day. But Things are changing slowly but surely and for the better. People around the world like writers, poets, TV personalities, prime ministers and even an Indian Prince have openly embraced their individuality and sexuality and are paving the way for a better future of the LGBTQIA community.
Pop culture is portraying the LGBTQIA characters in a positive light. Be it Prof. Dumbledore from Harry Potter, Captain Raymond Holt from Brooklyn 99, Oberyn Martell from Game of Thrones or the Valkyrie from the Marvel Universe: they are empowering everyone from the LGBTQIA community one person at a time. Because no one, absolutely no one, deserves to live in a closet!
-Surashree Ulhas Joshi
Visiting Faculty