The word queer encompasses various identities of people who are marginalised based on their gender and sexualities. This term is Western in origin and has been incorporated into the social and cultural framework of various other countries. This umbrella term might not fit completely with places where the history of queer has been culturally different, like India. Incidentally, one of the burning topics broached for discussion during the last decade in India is regarding queer spaces in the Indian context. This was in the limelight of the many legal and legislative stances regarding queer people and their lives, which questioned/debated the extant colonial rules like the IPC 377. Many of the judicial verdicts regarding gender and sexuality, like the Delhi High Court Verdict of 2009, the NALSAR Verdict of 2014 and Navtej Singh Johar vs Union of India 2018, have provided a fresh avenue to reconceptualise the traditional notion of gender and sexuality.
The presence of queer people in various domains/spaces pertaining to art is quite visible, though liminal, like academics, arts, films, etc. However, when we try to examine about/of the spaces where the sexually and gender-wise marginalised people are not much ‘visible,’ one finds that sports is one such space, where there is a lacuna. When we look at the global scale, one can find sports persons coming out of the closet, asserting their identity, but the case is not much in India. For instance, one can understand the hue and cry that ensued when Dutee Chand talked about her sexuality. Not many of Indian athletes talk of their personal life as it entails risk to their career/professional front.
Thus, to ruminate on, understand and discuss the reasons for this lacuna – queer in sports – we present this Call for Papers to a conference which will deal with issues and concerns of marginal sections, gender-wise and sexuality, in the sports spaces. Some of the possible sub-themes are as follows, though not limited to them:
Inclusion of Queer in Sports
Coming out cases of Sports Persons
In/visibility of Queer
Queering the Sports
Queer and Sports in Global Contexts
Perspectives on Gender Binaries in Sports
Role of Sports Academies and Gender
Format and Timeline
This is a one-day National conference hosted by the Department of English, University of Hyderabad, funded by IoE. The conference sessions will be dedicated to the discussions of participants’ papers.
We welcome submissions from Indian scholars of all disciplines. The conference will be held at the University of Hyderabad on 9th February 2024.
To apply, please send a paper abstract (max. 200 words) of original, unpublished work and a recent curriculum vitae by December 10th to queerspaces@uohyd.ac.in. Decisions will be made by December 20th. Once notified, participants will be asked to submit a complete draft by January 30th for pre-circulation among other members of the conference.
If you have any questions, please write to us at: queerspaces@uohyd.ac.in.
Contact Information
Assis Mon, Research Assistant
IoE Project (Queer Spaces in Sports)
Department of English
University of Hyderabad
Contact Email queerspaces@uohyd.ac.in
