BU WGS Seminar Series: Kareem Khubchandani

Dancing Against the Law: Critical Moves in Bangalore's Gay Nightlife India's rights-based LGBTQ activism--legislation, public protest, film and web production--has centered on the decriminalization of sodomy, particularly the reading down of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. In addition to 377, queer bodies have been criminalized by other laws, including a ban on dancing in Bangalore enforced between 2005 and 2012. Understanding rights and protest through the lens of the dance-ban instead of and alongside 377 allows for a more expansive understanding of who is queer in relation to the state, as well as an opportunity to center pleasure and creativity in protest and activism.