Legalizing Sex Sexual Minorities, AIDS, and Citizenship in India / Chaitanya Lakkimsetti.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lakkimsetti, Chaitanya.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sexual minorities--Legal status, laws, etc--Social aspects--India.

Sexual minorities.

Sexual minorities--Political activity--India.

Trans people--Legal status, laws, etc--Social aspects--India.

Trans people.

Trans people--Political activity--India.

Sex workers--Legal status, laws, etc--Social aspects--India.

Sex workers.

Sex workers--Political activity--India.

AIDS (Disease)--Patients--Legal status, laws, etc--Social aspects--India.

AIDS (Disease).

AIDS activists--India.

AIDS activists.

LGBTQ+ people.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (155 pages)

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press 2020.

Summary:

This original ethnographic research explores the relationship between the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the rights-based struggles of sexual minorities in contemporary India. Sex workers, gay men, and transgender people became visible in the Indian public sphere in the mid-1980s when the rise of HIV/AIDS became a frightening issue. The Indian state started to fold these groups into national HIV/AIDS policies as "high-risk" groups in an attempt to create an effective response to the epidemic. Lakkimsetti argues that over time the crisis of HIV/AIDS effectively transformed the relationship between sexual minorities and the state from one that was focused on juridical exclusion to one of inclusion. The new relationship then enabled affected groups to demand rights and citizenship from the Indian state that had been previously unimaginable. By illuminating such tactics as mobilizing against a colonial era anti-sodomy law, petitioning the courts for the recognition of gender identity, and stalling attempts to criminalize sexual labor, this book uniquely brings together the struggles of sex workers, transgender people, and gay groups previously studied separately. A closely observed look at the machinations behind recent victories for sexual minorities, this book is essential reading across several fields.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction: Contemporary Politics of Sex

1. “HIV Is Our Friend”

2. Challenging “Bare Life”

3. Empowered Criminals

4. Tolerable Identities, Intolerable Sex Acts

5. Interconnected Rights

Acknowledgments

Appendix A. Abbreviations

Appendix B. Timeline for Anti- Sodomy- Law Contestations

Notes

References

Index

About the Author

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-4798-4599-X

OCLC:

1127914553