With Quest 2016, a two-day national seminar being held at the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) here, the queer movement in the State is making its foray into academic discourse.

The seminar, which examines various facets of queer lives, including social exclusion and related mental health challenges, the intersections of caste and sexual identities, and queer portrayal in art, is jointly organised by Queerala, an organisation for Kerala-based lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people, and the Association of Cultural and Scientific Research (ACSR).

The seminar adopts a multi-disciplinary approach, bringing together perspectives from history, sociology, psychology and science to address the challenges faced by the queer community.

Twenty three papers, short-listed from 146 abstracts submitted from across India, will be presented at the seminar, apart from four panel discussions and three plenary sessions.

One of the highlights of the event is the presentation of an invited paper on 'Christian response to sexual minorities in India' by Father Philip Kuruvilla, General Coordinator, Ecumenical Solidarity for HIV/AIDS, National Council of Churches in India.

Jijo Kuriakose, co-founder of Queerala, hopes that the seminar will inspire more research and study on gender and sexuality in Kerala.

The event was inaugurated on Friday by Deepa Vasudevan, founder of Sahayathrika, an organisation working with lesbian and bisexual women.

Addressing the gathering, Ms. Deepa said that existing academic theories turn out to be inadequate to describe the lives of the queer community in Kerala. When it comes to issues like patriarchal families, monogamous marriages and child sexuality, local experiences tend to clash with global conceptions.

According to her, it is therefore crucial to examine local experiences through platforms such as this event and use them to construct new theories and a new language that can help study issues faced by the queer.

The seminar will conclude on Saturday. Jayan Cherian, poet and film-maker, will be the special guest at the closing ceremony.