Being Queer

LGBTIQA Identities in South Asia

Abstract

On thinking about the queer people – people who self-identify as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning, asexual, non-binary- from South Asian perspective, one could notice that there has been tremendous shifts happening for a long time in every walks of life in terms of identity and activism for inclusion. The use of the term ‘South Asia’ in this context might appear as problematic from academic perspective, as it represents a region of multiculturalism and multilingualism. Therefore, the question is: how to look at one as a ‘South Asian Queer individual’?

The significance of this issue on LGBTIQA people in South Asia is to be stated at the outset itself in order to have a clarity on the focus theme. This issue is devoted to explore transgender and queer identities in all forms of public discourses in South Asia. Such an academic task necessarily requires an understanding of the contemporary issues concerning the queer people in the region apart from sufficient grasp on queer representations in the history of this region.