Charan Singh: Your Tongue in My Mouth

The terms Hijra and Kothi refer to experiences of gender, identity and ways of life rooted in South Asian cultures that do not have direct English equivalents. For many Hijra, identity is connected not only to gender but also to shared traditions, cultural practices and social ties. Depending on the context, Kothi may speak to the ways gender, sexuality, desire and social relationships are expressed and understood.

Under British colonial rule, law became a tool for policing gender expression and intimacy. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (1861) criminalised sexual acts deemed to be ‘against the order of nature’, while the Criminal Tribes Act (1871) imposed restrictions on communities. These laws turned British colonial prejudice into public policy in India, with effects that continue to shape lives today.

Language sits at the centre of these histories. For many working class and economically marginalised queer people, barriers to education made vital information about HIV/AIDS harder to access and understand, particularly when much of it circulated in English with little available in the languages and dialects spoken. For communities already facing social and economic marginalisation, it also affected awareness of legal protections and human rights, further restricting access to healthcare and support.

At the heart of the exhibition a chronology traces how these histories have been written, contested and changed. Bringing together legislation, court judgments, community organising, political movements and acts of resistance from 1835 to the present, it rejects a simple story of progress. Instead, it shows how law has been used to define and control identities, while also being challenged through collective struggle. The chronology extends to the 2026 amendment to India’s Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act (2019), which removed the right to self-identification and narrowed who could be legally recognised under the Act.

Singh’s portraits return us to the people living these histories – and to the collective resistance that continues to shape demands for rights and recognition.