(En)Queering ‘Prakriti’: Decolonial Ecofeminism and Lesbian Subjectivity in Out! Stories from the New Queer India

The present article aims to explore the decolonial possibilities of queer ecofeminism entailing lesbian subjectivity and solidarity in Indian geography through the textual analysis of select post-colonial stories from Out! Stories from the New Queer India (2012) by Minal Hajratwala. Introducing lived experiences of queer people in the lap of nature, this book interpolates lesbian subjectivity and the politics of recognition broadly. Critiquing established narratives in queer feminist perspectives (Vanita, 2001; Roy, 2022) and ecofeminism (Shiva, 2010), this article critiques Prakriti (i.e., Nature) as a dissident source of Shakti (i.e., Power) for queer lives. In a country like India, the recent decline of the demand for legalising same-sex marriage by the Indian Supreme Court amidst significant political and religious controversy (Rajgopal, 2023) underscores the urgency of this discourse. In such a heated context, this article articulates the lived experiences of lesbian relationships in Indian ecology and examines queer ecofeminism as an instrumental approach to advancing lesbian subjectivity, and solidarity and addressing sexism.