Kolkata pride calls for laws that respect human rights Happenings, Dec '16The 15th edition of the ‘Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk’ is planned for December 11, 2016 – exactly three years since the infamous Supreme Court of India verdict on Section 377, Indian Penal Code. Excerpts from a leaflet dev...
Small step, big victory! Happenings, Dec '16The West Bengal Administrative Tribunal directs WBPSC to include 'transgender' in its forms....
(Un)equal before the law? Happenings, Mar '17Danish Sheikh on the launch of a report on obstacles to justice faced by queer people in India...
New mental health law: Act of dignity? Insight, Policy Matters, Apr '17Pallav Bonerjee assesses India’s brand new mental health legislation, the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017....
Government banks can’t write off trans inclusion! Happenings, Mar '17State Bank of India told to include ‘transgender’ option in its examination forms....
Digital media, queer lives and ‘Indian-ness’ Happenings, May '17Two books on the relationship between digital media and queer lives were launched recently in Kolkata. The event was part of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia observations. Kaustav Manna report...
Voice of reason with Kolkata connect in UK polls Insight, People, May '17 (long read)Comparative literature studies to researching and teaching gender, sexuality and digital media; Kolkata to London; and now a step into the UK general elections arena on a Labour Pa...
Court battles for ground level transformation Insight, People, Dec '16A conversation with primary school teacher Atri Kar who recently succeeded in getting the West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC) to include ‘transgender’ as a gender option in its application forms....
Voicing out stasis in transgender lives Happenings, Nov '17A trans* community hearing organized last week in Kolkata captured numerous grievances and complaints of government inaction across West Bengal. Pawan Dhall reports...
Government letdown on transgender and intersex rights legislation Policy Matters, Nov '17In a stunning reversal, the Government of India has ignored all civil society inputs and plans to table a much criticized version of a Bill on transgender and intersex rights in Parliament. A response issued by Sampoorna I...
Act up call for hospitals on trans health rights Insight, Policy Matters, Mar '17Diksha Sanyal makes a strong case for judicial intervention to ensure health facilities honour apex court verdict on transgender rights...
Down, but not out! Vartanama, Nov '17Three of the articles in this issue of Varta talk about the continued hardships faced by transgender and intersex people in India. All jab us in the eye at how far we are, as a society, in respecting the same rights that our g...
‘Transgender Day of Rage’ to mark Kolkata pride Happenings, Dec '17The 16th edition of the ‘Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk’ is planned for December 10, 2017. The walk will be preceded by a protest against the discriminatory Transgender Person (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016, an issue that is...
Toilets: Inclusive, safe and universally designed Vartanama, Dec '17To pee or not to pee – in a public toilet! Till this day any decision in this regard has sometimes to be taken even before I have left home. One of the key deciding factors is prior information on...
Privilege 101: Your handy primer to oppression and privilege Commentary, Nov '16Asmita Ghosh wants us to acknowledge and push back our social privileges, often invisible to our own eyes but painfully evident to those denied the same...
Lens on AIDS 2016 Clickhappy! Aug '16Pawan Dhall does a photo round-up of the ‘21st International AIDS Conference’ held at Durban, South Africa from July 18-22, 2016...
India’s abdication in UN queer vote Insight, Aug '16The 70th Independence Day could have had new meaning for queer people in India, but for India’s abstention on a recent UNHRC resolution to protect the rights of queer people. Avinaba Dutta explains...
Disorder to dysphoria – humanizing the trans citizen? Insight, Policy Matters, Oct '16Debjyoti Ghosh on the World Health Organisation’s plans to delist transgender identity as a mental disorder...
Qatha: On the uses of 'sil-batta' to make you straight & more queer tales (part 1) Qatha, People, Jun '18Varta brings you the next series of articles under the ‘Queer Kolkata Oral History Project’...
Rainbow pride debut wins hearts in Shillong, trumps rain and public hostility Happenings, Oct '18Shillong witnessed its first pride walk just a week after the Section 377 verdict. Shivalal Gautam reports...
About constitutional love and great expectations Vartanama, Sep '18High fives and hugs yes, but the Section 377 verdict is by no means about closures!...
Pushback against wrongs in Bill on transgender rights Insight, Dec '17The campaign against the regressive Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016 is not just an unprecedented mobilization of trans communities to resist the exclusionary nature of our legal system, but also a major step ...
Cruel déjà vu on transgender rights legislation Happenings, Dec '18Anger erupts against Bill on transgender rights passed by Lok Sabha at Kolkata media conference...
In rage, and in hope, we fight Happenings, Dec '17Delhi witnesses a collective voice of dissent against the central government’s Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016. Ajita Banerjie reports...
Alienation, mindfulness and the New Year Vartanama, Dec '18Some ruminations as 2019 takes off from where 2018 never stopped . . ....
On recovering from effects of incest and child sexual abuse QA - Child Sexual Abuse, Dec '18RAHI Foundation continues to answer your queries on incest and child sexual abuse...
Trans participation in Manipur for Lok Sabha polls – some hits, many misses VCR Diary, Happenings, May '19Trans inclusion in the election process in Manipur needs far more thought, says Bonita Pebam...
Systemic (trans)gender injustice yet again! Manipur Diary, People, Jun '18Santa Khurai narrates medical doctor Beyonce’s struggles around her transgender identity...
Purdah Poetry, May '19Sniggers at androgyny are a poor purdah on our insecurities, says Rajib Chakrabarti...
Multi-layered exclusions for trans persons in Assam NRC process VCR Diary, Insight, Jul '19Look at the NRC exercise from trans persons’ points of view, urges Shivalal Gautam...
State stupor in trans inclusion Vartanama, May '17Sumana Pramanik is a young trans woman who lives in the Nadia district of West Bengal. Keen on a legal gender identity change, she approached a First Class Magistrate for an affidavit in September 2016. This aff...
Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019: Time for a legal challenge? Insight, Aug '19Diksha Sanyal examines the constitutionality of a Bill which the Centre is keen to enact...
Attempts at erasing trans cultures in Manipur Commentary, Sep '19Santa Khurai on trans women in Manipur being denied their traditional space in the Lai Haraoba festival...