Скачать или смотреть ‘The minute the government’s in the bedroom, it becomes political’: Aatish Taseer on queerness

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In his conversation with Abhinandan Sekhri, British-American author Aatish Taseer reflects on the role of candor in his work and how writing about sexuality becomes an act of both self-liberation and political expression.

Speaking about his early travels in Turkey when he was still piecing together the realisation that he was gay while dating a woman, Taseer says that such openness in his writing comes from a desire to make readers feel “in completely safe hands”. A traveler, he explains, does not know everything, but what matters is a feeling of transparency, a sense of trust that the writer is offering the truth of their experience.

Yet when it comes to sexuality, honesty takes on another dimension. “Sexuality is political,” he says. “It’s political everywhere, but in India especially. The minute a court or a government is in the bedroom, it is political.”

The history of queer rights in India has been a cycle of gains and losses granted, then taken away, leaving many with a lingering sense of instability. “To be gay is to belong to a minority,” Taseer says. “And in a democracy, the responsibility is to protect those who don’t have a constituency.”

For him, this makes writing about sexuality less a confessional act than a way of reaching out. Not so much from a sense of social responsibility, but as a signal to those still closeted that another path is possible. “A path to openness, to a fuller life,” he says, “to refusing incompleteness.”

Asked whether sexuality truly shapes Indian politics, Taseer notes the paradox. On the one hand, there are whispers about the private lives of leaders, rumours spoken in hushed tones. On the other hand, the law itself has long determined the terms of queer existence. “You’re never going to sway majoritarian politics,” he says, “but part of the responsibility of democracy is to protect those who can’t sway it.”

That constant tension between honesty and exposure, politics and privacy runs through his work. What begins as travel writing often turns into something more: a record of discovery, not just of places, but of ways to live openly in societies that remain cautious, even fearful, of difference.

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