Thomas Babbington Macaulay is the author of the Indian Penal Code—the laws that govern our country. He was key to drafting the words in Section 377. He was also key in forcing Indians to learn English customs under the British rule. This connection is no accident—homophobia is not natural or part of our history, it had to be taught.

What is the history of homosexuality in pre-colonial India, and what were the attitudes of people at the time?

We meet Dr Ruth Vanita and Dr Jyoti Puri and learn just how carefully the British defined homosexuality, outlawed it, and taught people to react with horror and disgust at its very mention, both in India and across the British Empire.

Show Notes

All clips and voices used in this podcast are owned by the original creators.

The following guests appeared in this episode:

• Siddharth Dube
• Dr Ruth Vanita, professor of English at the University of Montana, and author of Love’s Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West (2005) and most recently, the novel, Memory of Light (2020)
• Anand Grover
• Dr. Jyoti Puri,  professor of sociology at Simmons University, and author of Sexual States: Governance and the Struggle against the Antisodomy Law in India's Present (2016)
• Anjali Gopalan
• Ashley Tellis, academic and gay rights activist

References

• Shashi Tharoor’s speech at the Lok Sabha, on his proposed bill to decriminalize homosexuality, courtesy Mango News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxFjhiIt3Ps&t=175s
• ‘Angrezi Bolke Sunaao Na’, courtesy Amazon Prime Video, India: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd9ZpS98pys&t=3s
• Interview with Alok Gupta, November 2011, from This Alien Legacy courtesy. Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights at York University, Canada, directed by Dr Nancy Nicol
• Straits Times’ announcement about Singaporean High Court judge’s dismissal of challenges to Section 377A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A9WrfOgf4g
• ‘Kenyan court upholds criminalisation of gay sex’, courtesy AP News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_QGGhd_BzI&t=47s