For the third anniversary of the landmark verdict decriminalizing homosexuality in India, All Things Small presents ‘377’, a scripted fiction podcast series
Since 2018, September has been an important month for India’s LGTBQ+ community. When the Supreme Court struck down Section 377 (which made homosexual sex an offence) on September 6, 2018, it became an important milestone in independent India. The third anniversary brought with it much to celebrate, including memorial tweets by lawyer Maneka Guruswamy, one of the lawyers fighting the case, and activist Kavita Krishnan; Axis Bank has now announced several policies for the LGBTQIA+ community. And on the educative front, Mumbai-based media company All Things Small’s latest podcast, 377.
All Things Small is behind the company Spotify like the original Mission ISRO and Dhruv Rathi Mahabharata, and this new podcast takes a deep dive into the long journey of colonial-era law. It also analyzes the legal system of the country. Featuring guests such as author and public health official Siddharth Dubey and lawyer Anand Grover, the well-researched podcast is peppered with news bytes and court readings as well. in this interview The Hindu WeekendJournalist Sindhuri Nandakumar, creator of the podcast, tells us why he focused the 12-part series three years after the law was scrapped, and a retrospective discussion of why it’s still relevant today.
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Why did you choose to record the podcast on Section 377?
It is interesting to note how the people used the courtroom to further their rights. Since a lot of constitutional experts say that the law follows the society and does not really set the tone for the society, I wanted to understand what was the social context of Section 377.
What is the relevance of this discussion on law today?
This case, which is actually a series of legal petitions, has been very well documented by many organizations. Ashim de Silva, the creator of the podcast, and I worked with experts (Constitutional Law Authority, Tarunabh Khaitan), scholars (writers Ruth Vanitha and Jyoti Puri) and organizations (QAMRA of Bengaluru, a collective of lawyers). We are happy to say that laws are a thing of the past but we see similar patterns being repeated. For example the transgender bill; There was a landmark verdict in this case as well, but we didn’t see the kind of progress we were hoping for for the community.
Do you see podcasts bringing about social change?
In 2001, when the Naaz Foundation India Trust filed the petition, there were many people from the gay community who said, ‘We are not right with you to choose a law that only targets gay men, and that is used to represent all of us. does for. . What about the rights of other people in the community?’ This led to widespread discussion and eventually mobilized the entire community. It’s a hopeful story, and I hope we can use those positive aspects of a difficult struggle to inspire people.
What’s special about the upcoming episodes?
Since the first petition was filed in 2001, the idea of privilege in the queer community, and other decisions passed in this space, we have had sessions on disagreements within the queer community, among other topics.
The first three episodes of “377 – The Legal Fight Against India’s Anti-LGBTQ Law” are now streaming on Spotify. New episodes to drop every week.
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