Where are the queer romcoms in India?

From a more diverse range of queer novels to a greater celebration of queer joy, it’s time Indian literature got in step with pride

Reading is a great way to bring change, one page at a time. When it comes to queer-themed literature, it helps in understanding LGBTQIA+ identities that might still be hard for many, for parents to understand their queer children better, easing the confusion surrounding gender pronouns and for society at large to move towards greater inclusivity. And while we are seeing many queer novels in the adult space, it seems like youth literature is still wary.

Here's a sobering thought: While there were over 1,055 LGBTQIA-themed books published in 2021 globally, many of them being YA (young adult) novels, how many can you name from India? The answer is bound to be in the single digit. While A. Revathi's memoir The Truth About Me: A Hijra Life Story was a seminal read, why are we yet to see a transromcom. Or one with non-binary characters in it. And I'm not even counting genres like queer horror or queer westerns which we are still waiting to see land on our literary shores.

"Indian laws say one cannot talk to people under 18 aboutsexuality and gender without parental consent and/or they being present. This, unfortunately, extends to books published about sexuality and gender for YA. Although, there are a few books for children from independent publishers," says Shobhna S. Kumar of Queer Ink, an independent publishing and media platform. She goes on to add, "There are no impediments to publishing queer content in India. Yet, the laws are open to interpretation which may be a hindrance. There are many queer self-publishers who invest their own resources in producing their books."

A rainbow of queerness

According to Parmesh Shahani, author of Queeristan: LGBTQ Inclusion in the Indian Workplace, "I think that besides more queer literature, we also need more diverse queer literature. We need queer literature that can showcase the entire spectrum of what it means to be LGBTQIA plus in our country." His book, partly a memoir and partly a fact-filled cri de coeur for corporates to have more inclusive policies, launched Westland Books spanking new business section—clearly a progressive nod in publishing.

"We need stories of all kinds, not just coming out stories," feels Shahani. "We need to read about stories from across the country, including regions like the north-east, which often get underrepresented or from Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi and under-represented authors. We need to read more literature by and from trans people. We need queer literature in a wide range of languages, not just English and being published and translated and shared widely. So there's a lot of work to be done—and whatever has happened so far are just early ripples."

For Nu, author and founder of Revival Disability Community, "The act of writing my first published story in Big Mistake – An Anthology On Growing Up and Other Tough Stuff has been an act of queer disabled joy," she says. "It has helped me take up space in a world full of ability normative norms and heteronormativity. I wrote it for past Nu, present Nu, and future Nu. I also wrote it for collective joy: my community, other queer disabled folks. So that none of us have to ever feel alone ever again. In a world of ableism and homophobia, at least we have each other."

The happiness quotient

The truth is that we've seen the entrance of queer joy in novels only since the last few years all across the world. This is a relief since all the gay novels I remember reading growing up always had some dire tragedy at its centre—someone died, someone fell ill, someone got their heart ripped out, eventually leaving you as a gay man depleted of hope. While those stories were important in their own right and needed to be told, one wonders why was being queer portrayed only as a tragedy. For some inexplicable reason, celebrating queer love and queer joy didn't seem as necessary as death and heartbreak.

This is why one of the guiding lights when writing my own recent novel, The Other Man, was that it had be positive, empowering and a celebration of gay love. Enough of doom and gloom, I felt. Literature, like film, has the power to inspire, and it might give courage or comfort to someone who wants to come out, to help them lead a happier life. It also might help save someone's life.

"Growing up, I rarely saw queer lives in the media, and the stories I did see taught me that being queer was traumatic and painful, which made it harder for me to accept myself," says international author Alison Cochrun, whose queer romance The Charm Offensive features an American-Indian protagonist.

What ails publishing

The question that begs to be asked is why is it that three years after the decriminalisation of Section 377, Indian literature is still way behind in the diversity of queer literature? According to an India Book Market Report in 2016, India is the sixth largest publisher globally and the second largest publisher in the world for English-language books. Contrary to popular belief, according to the World Culture Score Index, Indians spend more time reading than their counterparts globally. And while we do have a few queer-themed books coming out each year, that's nowhere near how robust it is internationally. Is this because publishers are worried about insufficient sales? Or still feel there's a lack of readership?

"Queer publishing is in the nascent stages in India, and I see it growing very slowly," says Kumar. "When I started in 2010, I had to spend a significant amount of resources building readership and queer storytellers. Since then, Queer Ink book sales have only grown exponentially. The opportunity for storytellers writing queer is immense but will take significant partnerships and collaboration to produce them."


She adds, "The last two years have compelled us at Queer Ink to review our last ten years of operations. We will continue to focus on publishing queer India stories and will use our website to collate and archive what else has been published." Well, now that sounds like a happy ending!

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