The government’s reluctance to elevate Saurabh Kirpal as India’s first queer judge puts the focus back on how the LGBTQ+ community has a hard time asserting itself in legal circles.
In her initial years as an advocate in Nagpur, K got acquainted with a young female lawyer, whom we’ll call P. Like K, P identifies as bisexual. But unlike K, P has been open about it.
“With time, I saw her sexual identity become bigger than her professional one,” K recalls. “Straight women looked at her as ‘I hope she doesn’t crush on me’; straight men would look at her in an oversexualized way.”
K had spent a few years in New Delhi before she moved to Nagpur. Back in Delhi, she was open about her sexual identity. In Nagpur, …
Omkar specializes in long-form narrative features and has reported from India, the UK, Germany and the Maldives. He writes across beats, from politics and crime to cinema and sports. His works have been published in Indian and international outlets including The Caravan, Mint Lounge, the BBC, Al Jazeera and The Huffington Post.
Senior Features Writer
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Delhi