When the Local Meets Global: A Take on LGBTQ+ Social Movement Organizations in India

Considering the queer political, cultural, and religious traditions in India, I argue that the working of LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and others) social movement organizations in India cannot be understood through the dichotomies of assimilationist versus differentiating forms of activism. These binaries have quite accurately distinguished the activism of queer organizations, like ACT-UP, from that of corporatized HIV/AIDS focused gay organizations in the United States. But I argue that the Indian context needs to be understood in light of the flux that LGBTQ+ organizations often experience—the interaction between their allegiance to the causes of sexual fluidity embraced by the Indian queer forms and the forces of global LGBTQ political economy. Thus, I show that the working of LGBTQ+ activist organizations in India offers a compelling case wherein we find that the normalizing and differentiating forces can synchronize with each other to achieve movement goals.Considering the queer political, cultural, and religious traditions in India, I argue that the working of LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and others) social movement organizations in India cannot be understood through the dichotomies of assimilationist versus differentiating forms of activism. These binaries have quite accurately distinguished the activism of queer organizations, like ACT-UP, from that of corporatized HIV/AIDS focused gay organizations in the United States. But I argue that the Indian context needs to be understood in light of the flux that LGBTQ+ organizations often experience—the interaction between their allegiance to the causes of sexual fluidity embraced by the Indian queer forms and the forces of global LGBTQ political economy. Thus, I show that the working of LGBTQ+ activist organizations in India offers a compelling case wherein we find that the normalizing and differentiating forces can synchronize with each other to achieve movement goals.