Participants

Thank you to the following people who have given their time and insights to the making of this documentary:

  • Anjali Gopalan is the Executive Director and founder of Naz Foundation (India) Trust, and a pioneer in HIV/AIDS prevention work with men who have sex with men and transgender communities, in Delhi. In 2001, Naz Foundation filed the petition to the Delhi High Court arguing for the decriminalization of homosexuality and the reading down of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which criminalizes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” 
  • Aslam Khalid is a long time staff member working closely with Anjali Gopalan at Naz Foundation in Delhi.
  • Anand Grover is the founder of the Lawyer’s Collective in India, a legal group committed to access to justice for poor and marginalized people, and to the advancement of social justice. Anand is the lead lawyer representing Naz Foundation (India) Trust in the constitutional challenge to section 377 IPC.     
  • Alok Gupta is a lawyer who conducted research on the history, scope and application of section 377 IPC working with the Lawyer’s Collective. Alok co-authored with Scott Long, the ground-breaking paper, This Alien Legacy, (Human Rights Watch) and co-edited with Arvind Narrain, the book, Law Like Love: Queer Perspectives on Law. For a short video except of an interview with Alok, see: envisioninglgbtourwork.blogspot.ca/p/india.
  • Chief Justice Shah (retired) acted as a Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and co-wrote the ruling on the Naz Foundation (India) Trust challenge, leading to the decriminalization of consensual sex between same-sex persons in 2009. In his ruling, Chief Justice Shah drew on architects of the India constitution, Ambedkar and Nehru, to argue for the decriminalization of homosexuality in India. The judgment was heralded world-wide for its application of equality rights and for the concept of constitutional morality.
  • Arvind Narrain and Siddharth Narrain are lawyers and founders of the Alternative Law Forum in Bangalore, a space that integrates alternative lawyering with critical research in the advancement of social justice. They acted as lawyers for the Voices Against 377 petition which, together with the Naz Foundation petition, mounted a constitutional challenge to section 377. 
  • Saleem Kidwai is a retired Associate Professor of History at Delhi University, an Islamic studies scholar and the co-author with Ruth Vanita of Same-Sex Love in India (St. Martin’s Press, 2000), a ground-breaking book which brings to light a fascinating account of same-sex love through 50 languages and hundreds of years of history in India. 
  • Prince, Bobby, Kiran, Deepa, and Shashi Bhushan, associated with the Milan Centre of Naz Foundation (India) Trust which provides a support centre, HIV/AIDS awareness and community outreach for transgender, kothi, hijra, bisexual, lesbian and gay people in Delhi.
  • Gautam Bhan is a co-editor with Arvind Narrain of the groundbreaking book, Because I have a Voice, Queer Politics in India; and an activist in Voices Against 377, which built a broad-based civil society campaign in opposition to section 377. 
  • Maya Sharma is a leading feminist scholar in India, and the author of Loving Women: Being Lesbian in Unprivileged India
  • Pramada Menon is a founding member of CREA: Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action, which is based in Delhi, and an activist in Voices Against 377.
  • Shohini Ghosh is the Zakir Hussain Professor of Media at the AJK Mass Communications Centre in Delhi, a documentary filmmaker and a writer on queer and popular culture in India. 
  • Chayanika Shah and Shalini Mahajan, are activists with LABIA: Lesbians and Bisexuals In Action who have contributed to various campaigns for social and sexual liberation in India. 
  • Shivananda Khan is the founder and chief Executive Director of Naz Foundation International, and a leader in HIV/AIDS prevention work internationally. We mourn the passing on May 20, 2013, of this inspiring and passionate activist for human liberation. 
  • Arif Jafar is a long time gay rights activist and the founder of Bharosa Trust and Maan AIDS Foundation. Based in Lucknow, these organzations work in association with Naz Foundation International to advance HIV/AIDS education and prevention with at risk populations, including men who have sex with men and transgender, kothi and hijra communities. 
  • Sudheesh and Shahid are outreach workers with Maan AIDS Foundation, and formerly with Bharosa Trust. In 2001, Arif Jafar, Sudheesh and Shahid were arrested and charged under section 377, and were subjected to custodial violence at the hands of police.
  • Manohar Elavarthi is an activist and the founder of Sangama, which works to advance the human rights and dignity of sexual minorities, sex workers and people living with HIV/AIDS in Bangalore.
  • Akkai and Veena are leading transgender activists on the staff of Sangama, in Bangalore.