Rights and representations: querying the male-to-male sexual subject in India

• Published in: Culture, health & sexuality Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 89 - 100
• Main Authors: Boyce, Paul, khanna, akshay
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.2011; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Anthropology, Cultural; Commitments; Dogs; Ethnographic research; Ethnography; Gay rights; Gays & lesbians; Gender Identity; HIV; Homosexuality; Homosexuality, Male - psychology; Human immunodeficiency virus; Human rights; Human Rights - legislation & jurisprudence; Human Rights - psychology; Humans; India; Indian culture; Liminality; Male; Male homosexuality; Marginalized people; Masculinity; Medical practice; Men; men who have sex with men; Perceptions; Politics; Power (Psychology); Prejudice; Sexuality; Social Perception; Social research; Subjectivity; India
• ISSN: 1369-1058; 1464-5351; 1464-5351
• DOI: 10.1080/13691058.2010.515317

Same-sex sexualities in India have been portrayed in research and activism as socially marginal and minoritarian. Whilst proceeding from a commitment to the political utility of such a view, this paper questions such a standpoint. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in different sites, the paper considers male-to-male sexualities as enacted and implicated in the production of ostensibly heteronormative spaces. This, in turn, raises questions about the representation of the queer or same-sex sexual subject in law and HIV prevention, especially in the context of post-colonial perspectives on sexuality.