Skip to main content Skip to navigation
CAS in the Media Arts and Sciences Media Headlines

Why the Scrapping of Section 377 Is Relevant to These Indians on America’s West Coast

On September 6, the Supreme Court of India scrapped Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, effectively decriminalising homosexuality in a judgement that quoted the gay pride anthem “I am what I am.”

Queer South Asians growing up in the United States have long had to suffer from the narrative about homosexuality being an American idea; that their queerness is a result of living in the West. While the scrapping of Section 377 has no legal impact on the South Asian diaspora in the US, some believe the striking down of this colonial norm helps queer Indians abroad convince their families that being gay is not a Western idea, since this is something that many parents seem to believe.

Nishant Shahani.
Nishant Shahani

Nishant Shahani, professor in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program at Washington State University in Pullman and author of Queer Retrosexualities: The Politics of Reparative Return, credits the recent Supreme Court of India judgment for bringing LGBTQIA+ issues into public discourse, facilitating discussions on heterosexuality not being the default setting. “When I left India in 1999 for a master’s in the US, there wasn’t any public discussion on homosexuality,” he says.

“Queer South Asians in the US have to navigate both homophobia and certain structures of racism,” says Shahani, adding that queer Indians in the West are not spared from preconceived notions of India being a land of Bollywood and snake-charmers.

Find out more

The Wire

Body Politics: Disability in America

Jenifer Barclay
Jenifer Barclay

The impact of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is visible in parking lots, bathrooms, and public buildings across the country. But for centuries before the ramps and signs were erected, disabled people had to find their own ways to navigate American society. » More …

History reveals the long view of marriage, professor says

Linda Heidenreich
Linda Heidenreich

By Linda Heidenreich, associate professor, Department of Critical Culture, Gender, and Race Studies

In June, upon returning from some much-needed time with family, I caught up with my email only to find a letter from our parish priest denouncing the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision that made same-sex marriage legal. He made two troubling claims: that the Obergefell decision overturned a “millennia of human wisdom” regarding marriage, and that church teaching is “unchanging.” » More …

Don’t believe her defenders. Amy Schumer’s jokes are racist.

David Leonard
David Leonard

Joking or not, the comedienne used her stage to play and profit off race while people of color bear the brunt of racial violence, say David Leonard, associate professor and chair of critical culture, gender, and race studies at WSU, and coauthor Stacey Patton of American University. » More …