Closet Geographies, Mobilities and Sexualities: On men’s Non-Normative Sexual Practices in Delhi

• In Event: Mobilities and Aspirations of Marginal Groups in Emerging Chinese and Indian Cities

Abstract

Strong heteronormative structures and everyday social practices in India keep non-normative sexualities largely in ‘the closet’. Queer individuals remain invisible to their families and the society at large. Nonetheless, many individuals negotiate their ways through various tactics to realise their sexual desires. This paper aims to understand the role of mobility in the everyday life of men in practicing their non-normative desires in the city of Delhi. Drawing on ethnographic data, this paper argues that everyday urban mobilities strongly underscore the homosexual life geographies of men in the city. For many men, the home space remains out of bounds to express their desires. As such men use transport and communication mediums to their advantage in breaching the boundaries of the closet and rewriting the sexual geographies of the city. Taking the case of the Internet and public transport in the city, this paper attempts to make connections between desires, everyday mobilities, closets and marginal subjectivities in urban space.

Author

• Kiran Bhairannavar, University of Delhi