Non-normative Sexualities in India|Fri|May 1|7.00 PM

Non-normative Sexualities in India  and the Invocation of the Nation in  Legal Narratives: Following Naz,  Koushal and NALSA Cases

by

Madhavi Shivaprasad

The talk follows the discourse of sexuality as it appears  in three legal cases:  Naz Foundation vs. Union of India (2009), Suresh Kumar Koushal  vs. Naz Foundation (2013) and National Legal Services Authority vs. Union of India (2014). It follows the three cases in order to unpack the ways in which the nation gets imagined with respect to non-normative sexuality. It will identify and follow two voices within the cases: the citizenship voice and the traditionalist voice. The citizenship group uses the argument of the Constitution and rights in order to make its point and  the traditionalists use the argument to tradition and culture to mean something that is constant and unchanging.

The talk also looks at how the tropes of history, law, religion and sexuality speak to the grand narrative  of the nation, questioning whether there really is a “meta-narrative” or a grand narrative of the “nation” since what we define as a nation is also very contextual.

About the Speaker:

Madhavi Shivaprasad completed her M.Phil in Women’s Studies at TISS, Mumbai. She has also freelanced for The Hindu, Bangalore.