Let's Talk about Dalit Queers

In the wake of the Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations on 14th April, this is the perfect time to talk about the existence and queerness of the Dalit community. 

All over the world, there exists the problem of minority communities being washed away from major movements by the more privileged, upper-class majority. The reality of the matter is that it is always the poor, lower class and underprivileged who start the fights first, sick of the discrimination and the abuse. Pride in India today is borne first by the richer, upper-class elite: upper-class queer activism works to separate queerness from caste, but the truth is in a country where caste is still a distinction people live by, it cannot be separated from conversations about queerness; it is important to acknowledge each community and their struggles. Being queer is all about being different and accepting the difference, so why are we trying to remove it from the amalgamation of identities that is a human being?

At a queer pride event as part of the 2015 Delhi Pride March, Dhrubo Jyoti - a journalist and a queer Dalit individual (they/them)- responded to an upper caste individual asking “why they had to bring caste into everything” with the following:

“We bring caste up because caste is everywhere and in my everything, Caste is in my shirt; Caste is in my pants, Caste is in my sex, Caste is in my being and Caste is in every part of you too!” 

The erasure of caste in conversations also erases years of Dalit struggles, history and identity. And that is not what equality means, that is the erasure of identity. Suppose you support the Black Lives Matter movement while still ignoring the treatment of Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims and the Queer community in India. In that case, you are facilitating the same discrimination and brutality in your own country. 

The LGBTQIAAA space in India is extremely saturated with privileged and upper-caste kids and leaves little to no space for minority queer representation. It must also be noted that when there is an opportunity, the representation is usually given by the elite upper caste who have taken it upon themselves to speak for the under-represented, not caring of the fact that THEY are the reason for the under-representation. Coupled with having to fight with the white-washed version of queer revolution, speaking out becomes a complicated job. Nayyeema Ismat in an article on Queerness and the Postcolony said it best:

“I am always anxious about others appropriating my narrative, but also because I don’t know how to process and narrate my queerness, how to come out politically through a narrative that is mine, that refuses to be globalized.”

With regards to Ambedkar Jayanti and the Dalit community in India, he was behind the full-fledged movements for Dalit rights in the 1930s, formed the All India Depressed Classes Association, and demanded separate electorates and seat reservations for the upliftment of the SC community. We are celebrating the work Ambedkar has done for the minority community in India, but there is still work to be done. 

A single word like gay, or queer will never be enough to describe the multiple identities of people. We must make the meaning of the word ‘queer’ to suit all of our identities, in a way that acknowledges and celebrates the history and culture of our whole lives, and not just the moments after we came out.    

Akhil Kang in an article for Tanqeed said it best:

“I found the language of my caste through queerness and displayed my queerness through my caste. My queerness was not just limited to joy, and my caste to anger.”

So in the week of Ambedkar Jayanti, look at what queer means to you now, and edit it into what you want it to mean. Find links to the mentioned Tanqeed articles, and a few other extras!

Happy Reading!

Queer Shuttling by Nayyeema Ismat

Queering Dalit by Akhil Kang

Dalit Queer Project (Instagram)