The Dark History Of LGBTQ Desire In India | The Mohua Show

This episode of The Mohua Show is a powerful and deeply reflective conversation about queerness, colonial memory, and the politics of desire in India.Academic and Author of the book ‘Forbidden desire’, Sindhu Rajasekaran speaks candidly about growing up queer under Section 377, uncovering erased queer histories in Indian archives, and how colonial morality reshaped the way gender, sexuality, and women’s bodies are policed today.From Victorian ideas of “modesty” and the criminalisation of queer lives to the forgotten histories of sexually agentive women locked up in colonial institutions, this episode confronts how much of what we consider “tradition” is actually inherited repression.A conversation about memory over amnesia, desire over shame, and why reclaiming queer histories is essential to imagining freer futures.What this episode is REALLY aboutNot nostalgia for the past.Not Western feminism.Not fixed identities.It’s about:Growing up queer in India: Life under Section 377 and criminalised loveColonial sexual politics: How the British rewrote Indian moralityQueer archives: What history tells us about gender fluidityVictorian modesty: Exporting shame and regulating bodiesLock hospitals: The sexual prisons nobody talks aboutErased literatures: How queerness was removed from Indian memoryPostcolonial amnesia: Why we forgot our own historiesSmashing the patriarchy: Everyday feminist resistanceGen Z & feminism: Redefining gender, identity, and politicsQueer feminism: Why the future of feminism must be fluidUndoing hierarchies: Power, equality, and dismantling gender binariesVisual storytelling: Representation, responsibility, and imaginationHonest conversations: Creating space beyond performative politicsIf you’ve ever wondered whether India was always this conservative — or what we lost between colonial shame and modern fear — this episode offers a rare, honest rethinking of gender, sexuality, and freedom.Support the PodcastIf this conversation made you rethink history, gender, or freedom — share it with someone who believes the past still shapes the politics of the present.Subscribe for conversations that question power, identity, memory, and resistance with honesty and depth.Music Credits : https://pixabay.com/music/ambient-butterfly-113600/✅ Subscribe To Our Channel: /themohuashow  Stay updated!🔔Follow Us OnThe Mohua Show►Website: www.themohuashow.com►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themohuashow  ►LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themohuashow  Connect with the Host: Mohua Chinappa► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mohua_chinappa/► LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohua-chinappa/►For any queries, EMAIL: [email protected] ©2025 The Mohua Show. All Rights ReservedDisclaimer: The views expressed by our guests are their own. We do not endorse and are not responsible for any opinions expressed by our guests on our Show and its associated platforms.#themohuashow #podcast #queerhistory #section377 #smashingthepatriarchy #queerindia #feminism #colonialism #genderpolitics #lgbtqindia #indianhistory #postcolonial #sexuality #desire #genderequality #queerfeminism #indianliterature #storiesthatmatter #identity #cultureandpolitics Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.