'Desi Queers': Celebrating South Asian LGBTQ+ Lives in Britain

Tue 24 February

Wolfson College

This Queer History Month, celebrate the vibrant lives, activism, and solidarities of Britain’s LGBTQ+ South Asians.

Fresh off the press, Desi Queers: LGBTQ+ South Asians and Cultural Belonging in Britain (2025), traces how diasporic South Asians have shaped LGBTQ+ movements from the 1970s to the present. The book weaves together anti-racist activism, Black feminist coalitions, and landmark moments in British queer life, from the Gay Black Group and Haringey Council’s pioneering Lesbian and Gay Unit to the historic 'Smash the Backlash' demonstration. Centring South Asian lives, it situates these histories within wider struggles against racism and homophobia.

Drawing on archives, oral histories, and cultural production, Rohit Dasgupta will discuss how grassroots organisations created spaces of refuge, resistance, and creativity for those marginalised within both South Asian communities and mainstream queer scenes.

The discussion will be chaired by Dr Anjali Bhardwaj-Datta, historian of South Asia and Gender, and a Fellow of Wolfson College.

Speakers:
Dr Rohit K Dasgupta is Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality and Deputy Head of Department (Research) at the London School of Economics. Using ethnographic and creative methodologies he has explored the relationship between sexuality, class and belonging in contemporary India.

Dr Anjali Bhardwaj-Datta is a Historian of twentieth century South Asia and a fellow at Wolfson College Cambridge. Her research focuses on transnational histories of migration, decolonisation, gender and urbanisation.

Details:
This event is open to all and free to attend - please book your place.

This event is organised in collaboration between Wolfson College Research Networks, the Wolfson Humanities Society and is part of the Post Colonial and Related Literatures Graduate Seminar series.

Access:
This event will take place in the Gatsby Room on the first floor of the Chancellor's Centre. It has step-free access with a lift and there is an accessible toilet located each floor of the building.

Contact:
If you have any questions, please contact our events team - events@wolfson.cam.ac.uk

Cost: Free