What does it mean to be Queer | R Raj Rao | TEDxVITPune

LGBTQIA, a sequence of letters that have been pushed into the spotlight following the decriminalization of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a British era law abused widely to persecute people of different sexual orientation
Professor R Raj Rao, a renowned author in gay literature, decides to throw more light on a prevalent norm in the LGBTQIA community, the concept of normativity. Rejecting the notion of normativity, R Raj Rao eloquently describes the meaning of being a queer person, which is the rejection of the status quo, an anarchist that wishes to build a LGBTQIA community that doesn't give into heterosexual societal standards. The author of over a dozen books of poetry, short stories, novels, plays, nonfiction and translations, R. Raj Rao is a staunch practitioner of activism through art. Homosexual love is the theme of most of his writing in the face of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that, till recently, criminalized homosexuality. Rao was the former Head of the Department of English at the University of Pune. He has been a recipient of the Nehru Centenary British Fellowship for postdoctoral research at the University of Warwick, UK; the International Writing Program Fellowship at the University of Iowa, USA; the Quebec-India Fellowship at Conordia University, Montreal, Canada; and the Rotating India Chair Fellowship of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations at Tubingen University, Germany.
Rao's novel ‘The Boyfriend’ was long-listed for the Crossword Book Award, while his recent book ‘Criminal Love? Queer Theory, Culture and Politics in India’ has been listed for the Valley of Words Award. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx