The year was 1999. 15 people walked together in the epic “Friendship March” of July 2 and tried to engage with everyone they could about same sex desires. Owais Khan, Pawan Dhall, Rafique-Ul-Haque-Dowjah-Ranjan and others who marched probably didn’t realize that they were making history. They went ahead even though several other community members were apprehensive about the repercussions. Their initiative cleared the path for future queer generations to march with pride.

Over the Rainbow then acquaints the reader with Anjali Gopalan who tirelessly worked against HIV/AIDS when even the medical fraternity stayed away. She went on to form the Naz Foundation (India) Trust which led the initial charge to fight against Section 377, the colonial law that targeted the queer community.

The book also discusses literary personalities and scholars like Saleem Kidwai and Ruth Vanita who edited Same-Sex Love in India: Readings from Literature and History, which became an important tool for the Indian LGBTQIA+ community to fight against the law and the mentality. As it presented the historical and literary background of same-sex relationships in the subcontinent, it was used in legal cases for the decriminalization of consensual queer sex. Another literary marvel, Vikram Seth, is also featured in this book. That he chose to include queer themes in his books when the general populace wasn’t ready to even start a conversation about the subject makes his work a form of activism. The cover of India Today magazine where he opposed the 2013 Supreme Court judgement affirming the illegality of same-sex conduct between consenting adults by posing with a sign that proclaimed, “Not a criminal”, will always stay with me.

The queer community isn’t a monolithic entity and so it is imperative to work on several fronts and form solidarities across the board. Grace Banu’s identity as a Dalit transwoman marginalized her even further but her relentless pursuit of an equal society for all led to the formation of the Trans Rights Now Collective. After a long struggle, she enrolled at an engineering institution in Tamil Nadu making her the first transgender person to be admitted into a college in the state. 

The book traces her journey as an activist and shows how her next attempt is to achieve horizontal reservations for the transgender community and work for reservations for the trans community within the larger SC, ST, OBC and other categories. Another Dalit transwoman could not complete her education but persisted in fighting against all odds to become the first transgender mayor of Raigarh in Chhattisgarh. Madhu Bai never intended to contest an election and yet when she did, she was able to defeat candidates from national political parties by raising issues that actually matter to voters. Her victory is a beacon of hope for many dispossessed queer individuals.

People fear the unfamiliar and that fear can lead them to discriminate against those they perceive as different. This has been the sole reason for the systematic otherisation and marginalization of the queer community around the world. While the colonial administration did indeed codify queerphobia into written laws, social conditions were somewhat the same with a few outliers who tried to speak their truth.

This book presents the narratives of modern day outliers whose work shows that change is possible and that each person needs to keep working in their respective fields to eradicate hatred. This book chronicles the long struggle and the diversity of issues that confront the LGBTQIA+ community in India. Even as the Supreme Court refused to legalise same-sex marriage earlier this month, this book reiterates that the fight for an equal society goes on.

Chittajit Mitra (he/him) is a queer writer, translator and editor from Allahabad. He is co-founder of RAQS, an organization working on gender, sexuality and mental health.