Hindu College Queer Collective (HCQC)

Hindu College Queer Collective (HCQC) is a student organisation that aims to provide a safe and open space to discuss and express the diverse identities of people on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. We aim to serve as a representative body for all queer, questioning, and allied students by advocating for and supporting them. Our goal at the HCQC is to address the various issues that young LGBTQ+ people from different backgrounds face, understand their needs, and educate others on how intersectionality works in queer spaces. We also aim to organise queer-friendly campus events and highlight queer culture and history through panel discussions, art exhibitions, and film screenings.

A significant day in the history of laws for the LGBTQ+ community is the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, Biphobia and Intersexphobia, when the World Health Organisation in the year 1990 declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder. With this year’s (2022-23) theme being ‘OUR BODIES, OUR LIVES, OUR RIGHTS’, the HCQC celebrated the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, Biphobia and Intersexphobia with an informative post about the history and significance of spreading more awareness. The HCQC, in collaboration with the Department of Sociology, Hindu College, organised a speaker session on 24 June 2022 under the ambit of ‘Gender in Praxis’ of the Social Lab with the renowned activist and teacher Vikramaditya. They delivered an insightful talk on ‘Intersectionality and Law’. The HCQC, in collaboration with the Department of Sociology, Hindu College, organised a speaker session on 30 June 2022 under the ambit of ‘Gender in Praxis’ of the Social Lab, with Dr Bittu on the theme ‘LGBTQ+ Representation in STEM’. The HCQC, in collaboration with the Women’s Development Cell, Hindu College, organised a pride parade on 22 September 2022. A cultural program was organised, which was followed by the pride parade. The HCQC collaborated with Adhrita, the Classical Dance Society of Hindu College, for a fusion dance performance; with Aria, the Western Music Society of Hindu College, for a band performance; with Ibtida, the Dramatics Society of Hindu College, for a jamming session; with Nakshatra, the Fashion Society of Hindu College, for a ‘Drag and Androgynous Fashion Show’; with Scribe, the Literary Society of Hindu College, for a slam poetry recitation among other events. We had Abstractions, the Fine Arts Society of Hindu College, as our Creative Partner and Vivre, the Film and Photography Society, as our Media Partner. We invited Dr Dhiren Borisa, a queer activist, an academician poet and urban sexual geographer, currently working as an Assistant Professor at Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, Haryana, as our speaker for the Pride Parade. The HCQC set up an admission help desk for queer students to assist them through the admission process. The HCQC collaborated with the Women’s Development Cell, Hindu College, and the Film Appreciation Society, Hindu College, for the screening of a short film, ‘A Diary’s First Page’, directed by Hriday Rao Chauhan, an independent filmmaker. The HCQC collaborated with the Miranda House Queer Collective to organise a workshop centred around building legal capacity for queer-trans students on 13 November 2022. The HCQC collaborated with the Women’s Development Cell and the Northeast Cell, Hindu College, and conducted a movie screening followed by a discussion session on an Assamese movie ‘Bulbul Can Sing’ directed by Rima Das. The film centres on three teenagers trying to come to terms with their sexual identities in Kalardiya village near Chaygaon in Assam; who they want to be and what their community expect them to be are two different things as they find themselves at odds with the social mores and moral codes of their village. The HCQC collaborated with the Bhagat Singh Study Circle and conducted a reading session on NEP-FYUP followed by a detailed discussion on ‘The Decimation of a University’ by Madhu Prasad. The HCQC, in collaboration with the Department of Sociology, Hindu College, hosted a Tete-a-Tete. The presence of Kaushal Bodwal graced the discussion.

LIST OF CURRENT OFFICE BEARERS:

Senior Core:

Faculty Advisors: Prof Shalini Suryanarayan

President: Saberi

General Secretary: Ash, Haseen

Treasurer: Sumedh

Research Head: Yash Makkar

Design Head: Yuvika

Research Secretary: Lenin