2021 Readings

Kenji Yoshino, ‘Preface’ and ‘An Uncovered Self’ in “Covering the Hidden Assault on our Civil Rights” (Random House, 2006).

In this covering chapter, Kenji Yoshino outlines his argument that the demand to cover can pose a hidden threat to our civil rights. Though we have come to some consensus against penalizing people for differences based on race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, and disability, we still routinely deny equal treatment to people who refuse to downplay differences along these lines. Racial minorities are pressed to “act white” by changing their names, languages, or cultural practices. Women are told to “play like men” at work. Gays are asked not to engage in public displays of same-sex affection. The devout are instructed to minimize expressions of faith, and individuals with disabilities are urged to conceal the paraphernalia that permit them to function.

Danish Sheikh, The Road to Decriminilization: Litigating India’s Anti-Sodomy law, Yale Human Rights and Development Journal, vol 16(1), pp 104-132.

In 2009, the Indian LGBT community took its first step towards equal sexual citizenship through the Delhi High Court's judgment in the matter of Naz Foundation v. NCT of Delhi and Others The Bench, comprising then Chief Justice of the High Court Justice A.P. Shah and Justice Muralidhar, crafted a 105-page document that is considered a landmark moment in Indian judicial history. The judgment not only empowered a historically marginalized community, but it also laid the foundation to strengthen other human rights struggles in the country with its expansive reading of constitutional rights.

Megan Rossman, The Archivettes (Women Make Movies, 2018). (Stream on Kanopy)

This documentary film (62 mins) is about the Lesbian Herstory Archives and the personal lives of the women involved in it. It tells the story of the process and value of preserving queer histories. As queer students of the law it reminds us and invites us to reflect on how, why and where our stories are told and kept, and how the law over recent decades has silenced our stories, used them instrumentally and then sought our narratives, especially in matters concerning policing of queer lives and the debates over marriage and identities.