63 – Gender and Sexual Diversity in South Asia: Cultural Connections in Contemporary Practice, Activism, and Attitudes

October 3, 2025
3:45 pm
H04
Di􀆯erent aspects of sexual and gender diversity in South Asia have garnered increasing attention from a range of actors in recent years, including LGBTIQA+ activists and community members, academics from disparate disciplines, literary writers, journalists and filmmakers, and artists. An emerging theme from these various analytical and disciplinary lenses is the recourse to cultural heritage and contemporary cultural practices, often referencing a recorded or imagined past that reflects a diversity-friendly attitude. Historical or cultural precedents may support contemporary non-binary, non-heterosexual identities, subjectivities, and practices. Such cultural traces may be found in the rich written, material, visual, auditory, verbal, and performative traditions of South Asia. This panel seeks to explore the historical and living cultural heritage of di􀆯erent regional, ethnic, tribal, caste, or religious origins that are or might be engaged in advocacy for South Asia's minoritized sexual and gender diverse communities. Who is engaging them and how, and how are these e􀆯orts and actions received by LGBTIQA+ activists and members of the LGBTIQA+ community, source community members and the public more broadly, and the state? This panel invites contributions from scholars, amongst others, in gender studies, transgender studies, queer studies, history, art history, transcultural studies, heritage studies, literature, religious studies, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, and law, across di􀆯erent regions of South Asia to explore and expand upon such considerations.

Convenors

Dr. Marion Wettstein
Dr. Alaka Chudal

Presentations

Navigating Identities: Lived Experiences of LGBTQIA+ Individuals within Societal and Familial Expectations in Nepal
Schild Marie Sophie - Department of South Asian, tibetan and Buddhist Studies, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Cows, Khyas, and More: Religious and Cultural Inflections in Queer Worldmaking in Nepal
Birkenholtz Jessica Vantine - Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, United States
Recent Discourses on Queer Heritage in Nepal
Wettstein Marion - Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies (HCTS), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
Connecting with the Cultural Past: Hindu Myths and Queer Voices in Nepal
Chudal Alaka Atreya - Institute of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, Univiersity of Vienna, Vienna, Austria