Being Queer: A Collection of Personal Histories

by gaysi, Toto Robin (Narrator), Arjun Iyer (Narrator )

Heer and Sumira share the tale of a friendship thriving despite the diversity of transgender experiences, Adira speaks to the affect of parental disaffection on the blossoming of a first love, Sudipta digs into the past to speak of an unlikely queertopia they’d found and HSW shares a journey of coming to terms with asexuality. To hear about these, and many more, join us as we explore the varying hues and journeys of queerness through this anthology of first-person LBT narratives.

©2022 Gaysi Media Private Limited (P)2022 Audible, Inc.

Genres: LGBT, Audiobook

Audible Audio

First published September 15, 2022

Reviews

[Harshada]

Very touching and personal true stories of Indian people who belong to the LGBTQIA+ community. This audiobook could be very important for someone looking for Indian representation in their journey to understand queerness.

[Salonee Sonawane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection offers valuable insights into contemporary queer experiences in India, bringing diverse perspectives to the narrative.

While the content is earnest and often moving, some stories resonate powerfully while others lack depth. A concerning pattern emerges where several stories, regardless of the narrator's sexuality, seem to normalize or even encourage infidelity and casual encounters without addressing the emotional complexities involved.

[Nena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m doing the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge 2024, which helps me to read different types of books that I wouldn’t normally read. One of the prompts is to read a memoir that explores queerness, and I chose this audiobook that is a collection of true stories by queer, Indian writers. As someone who is always looking to be an ally and learn more, I found this collection of memoirs fascinating and heartbreaking. The story that spoke to me the most was “Dear Diary”. People just want to be themselves and not thought of as different or abnormal, or put in a box. These personal stories opened my eyes to a different perspective than I’m used to hearing. But there were some stories that were hard to listen to because hearing first hand how queer people are treated, especially by their families, was extremely difficult.

[James Uscroft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Far too many people genuinely seem to believe that being 'Gay' was invented in the 1960's by white, American, Blue-State Liberals to destroy straight marriage, that being Trans was invented in 2016 by the same Liberals to destroy women's rights and that being Non-Binary was invented on Tumblr. So this anthology of the life experiences of queer people in the Indian Subcontinent is a vital reminder that nothing could be further from the truth.

That on the contrary, being anything other that straight and cis-gender is literally as old as humanity itself, and knows no nationality, religion, culture or ethnicity.

[Ally Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loooooved this! I saw little parts of myself in so many of these stories yet still learned a lot about experiences that are not my own. It’s so precious to read about the diversity that exists within the queer community, the similarities and the differences and the parallel journeys to self. It was also really insightful to learn about growing up queer in countries other than my own. Such beautiful, personal narratives.

[Reading_whimsically · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diversity- Indian POVs
Queerness: Mentions of Trans expirances , asexuality and a range of other queer expirances

Just a very quick and short audiobook while doing some house work- a collective of lgbtqia+ experiences from people of Indian ethnicity

It was very refreshing to hear the expirances of not only other sexualitys and gender identitys but the expirance of those within diffrent communities.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had wanted to read For the Love of God but couldn't find a copy for sale, but I did find 'Being Queer' which is full of queer heart, sometimes mending, or breaking, or finding, but beautiful hearts which seek the truth and find their own ways.

[sliceofmini · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved that included as many reps as possible . And for a freebie it was worth it's time

[Elimds9 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this! Very relatable and shared stories and experiences of queerness that are often overshadowed by Western narratives.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciated these stories of other queers, especially as they’re from a more eastern perspective and I’m from the West so that’s cool!

[Marietere T · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were stunning and beautiful.

[Cara Patel · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I really liked about this is that it took experiences from people not just from Britain so you had people from India and other parts of the world that I feel very rarely get to have their voice heard. Very much an enjoyable read, but I doubt that it'll stick in my mind that much moving forward.