India’s premier literary institution on March 7 announced it would allow LGBTQ poets to participate in its marquee Festival of Letters in New Delhi.

The Sahitya Akademi, often seen as a mirror of the government’s cultural agenda, for the first time allowed these poets into a high-profile poetry reading at the Rabindra Bhavan. They shared the stage with more than 700 writers across 50 languages.

Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat kicked off the Festival of Letters with Mahesh Dattani, the acclaimed English-language playwright famed for his provocative works, as the main guest. Dubbed Asia’s grandest literary gathering, the Sahitya Akademi took place over six days under the “Indian Literary Traditions” theme.

The 2025 Festival of Letters showcased a sweeping range of voices — young writers, women writers, Dalit authors from marginalized castes, Northeast Indian scribes, tribal poets, and LGBTQ poets — cementing its reputation as a literary kaleidoscope. 

Kalki Subramaniam, a leading transgender rights activist and author, on March 9 chaired a literary session titled “Discussion on Literary Works of LGBTQ Writers in the 21st Century,” which spotlighted contemporary queer voices.

“It was enriching to listen to the profound thoughts of LGBT writers from various parts of the country in their speeches,” said Subramaniam. “The session was particularly memorable with the participation of A. Revathi Amma from Tamil Nadu, Reshma Prasad from Bihar, Sanjana Simon from New Delhi, and Devika Devendra Manglamukhi and Shivin from Uttar Pradesh and Aksaya K Rath from Orissa.”

Subramaniam discussed how global politics shape gender rights and the persistent erasure of trans identity, urging a unified push for solidarity within the LGBTQ community. She stressed the vital need to elevate queer works and writers, casting their voices as essential to the literary vanguard.

“It was a pleasure to meet great writers from around the country in the festival as well as meet my writer activist friends Sajana Simon and Revathi Amma after a long time,” said Subramaniam. 

The government on March 12, 1954, formally established the Sahitya Akademi. A government resolution outlined its mission as a national entity tasked with advancing Indian literature and upholding rigorous literary standards; a mandate it has pursued for seven decades.

The Sahitya Akademi in 2018 broke ground in Kolkata, hosting the country’s first exclusive gathering of trans writers, a landmark nod to queer voices in Indian literature. 

Hoshang Dinshaw Merchant, India’s pioneering openly gay poet and a leading voice in the nation’s gay liberation movement, on March 9 recited a poem at the Festival of Letters, his verses carrying the weight of his decades-long quest for queer recognition. He later thanked the session’s chair for welcoming the community, a gesture that underscored the event’s third day embrace of diverse voices.

The Sahitya Akademi in 2024 honored K. Vaishali with the Yuva Puraskar for her memoir “Homeless: Growing Up Lesbian and Dyslexic in India,” a raw account of navigating queerness and neurodivergence. Vaishali in a post-win interview reflected on India’s deep-seated conservatism around sexuality, noting she wrote from a place of relative safety — an upper-caste privilege that shielded her as she bared her truth. The award, she said, was the Akademi’s indelible seal on her lived experience, a validation no one could challenge.

The Sahitya Akademi’s inclusion of LGBTQ writers in its main program this year jars with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s conservative stance, which, in 2023, opposed same-sex marriage in the Supreme Court, arguing it erodes Indian family values. Yet, under Shekhawat, the Sahitya Akademi’s spotlight on queer voices at the Rabindra Bhavan suggests it could be a tentative crack in a regime typically rooted in tradition.

The Festival of Letters hosted a translators’ meeting on March 10, spotlighting P. Vimala’s 2024 award-winning Tamil translation of Nalini Jameela’s “Autobiography of a Sex Worker,” a work steeped in marginalized voices that include queer perspectives.

This platform gained significant support from the BJP-led government, with Shekhawat securing a 15 percent budget increase to ₹47 crore ($5.63 million) in 2024. In Tamil Nadu state, however, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin, has long opposed such cross-linguistic efforts, fearing dilution of Tamil identity amid decades of anti-Hindi sentiment — a tension the Sahitya Akademi’s inclusive showcase sought to bypass.

‘The Akademi is very inclusive and has a friendly festival ambience,” Subramaniam told the Washington Blade.

March 21 was a historic day for Namibia with the inauguration of Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the country’s first female president who resoundingly won last November’s presidential election.

Nandi-Ndaitwah in her inaugural speech vowed to uphold the rights of every Namibian by bringing shared prosperity for all, and pledged to enhance gender parity across the country.

“The task facing me, as the fifth president of the Republic of Namibia, is to preserve the gains of our independence on all fronts and to ensure that the unfinished agenda of economic and social advancement of our people is carried forward with vigor and determination to bring about shared, balanced prosperity for all,” she said. “I am optimistic that, as a nation, we can make a success of our country. We must work together as a united people with one heart and one mind.”

Nandi-Ndaitwah’s remarks come at a time when LGBTQ Namibians face the possibility of being criminalized.

MP Jerry Ekandjo in 2023 tabled the Marriage Amendment Private Members’ Bill and Spouse Bill, which would have made same-sex marriages illegal, regardless of whether they had been legally performed outside Namibia. Those who would have violated the proposed law would have faced up to six years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both.

Former President Nangolo Mbumba earlier this month refused to sign the bills into law because a majority of MPs did not pass them, and they presented constitutional challenges. Former Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety, and Security Minister Albert Kawana last July tabled the marriage proposal in parliament, and labeled the two bills as redundant.

The Marriage Bill, which became law on Oct. 2, 2024, exactly four months after Kawana tabled it, repealed the Marriage Act of 1961 and all its subsequent amendments, including the Supreme Court decision which recognized same-sex marriages legally performed outside Namibia.

The Marriage Act of 2024 says a marriage or marital union between persons of the same sex wherever conducted, or a marriage or marital union conducted in a country other than Namibia which cannot be validly conducted in Namibia is illegal. Anyone who violates the law can face up to four years in prison, a $1,000 fine, or both.

“This law impacts all Namibians, from stricter marriage age requirements to mandatory public notification of intended unions,” said Equal Rights Namibia, a Namibian LGBTQ advocacy group. “Its effects extend beyond same-sex couples, complicating cross-national marriages and limiting personal freedoms. Equal Namibia calls for strategic litigation support and Namibians whose rights are violated by this unconstitutional law to join us in our fight.”

Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain decriminalized following last July’s landmark High Court ruling that struck down Namibia’s apartheid-era sodomy laws.

“The Namibia High Court’s decision to overturn these laws and decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual conduct is a victory for love, for equality and for human rights,” said Khanyo Farise, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for East and Southern Africa. “This ruling is a step toward ending discrimination in equal access to health care and other social services and ensuring that all people in Namibia can choose their partners without fear of reprisals and live their lives in dignity.”

Denmark is the latest country to issue a travel advisory for transgender people who plan to visit the U.S.

“When applying for an ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) or visa to the United States, there are two gender designations to choose from: Male or female,” reads the travel advisory the Danish Foreign Affairs Ministry issued on Friday, according to the Associated Press. “If you have the gender designation ‘X’ in your passport, or you have changed your gender, it is recommended that you contact the U.S. Embassy prior to travel for guidance on how to proceed.”

President Donald Trump shortly after he took office on Jan. 20 issued an executive order that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in response to directive ordered State Department personnel to “suspend any application requesting an ‘X’ sex marker and do not take any further action pending additional guidance from the department.”

Trump on Feb. 5 issued another executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams. The Guardian reported Rubio later instructed American consular officials to deny visas in “cases where applicants are suspected of misrepresenting their purpose of travel or sex.”

The German government earlier this month issued a travel advisory for trans and nonbinary people who are planning to visit the U.S. The AP notes Finland followed suit.

WorldPride is scheduled to take place in D.C. from May 17-June 8.

InterPride, the organization that coordinates WorldPride events, on March 12 issued its own travel advisory for trans and nonbinary people who want to travel to the U.S.

“Due to an executive order issued by the U.S. president on Jan. 20, all travelers must select either ‘male’ or ‘female’ when applying for entry or visas. The gender listed at birth will be considered valid,” reads the advisory. “If your passport has ‘X’ as a gender marker or differs from your birth-assigned gender, we strongly recommend contacting the U.S. diplomatic mission before traveling to confirm entry requirements.”

The Capital Pride Alliance is the local WorldPride host. Capital Pride said it is working on the guide mentioned in the InterPride advisory.

The guide has yet to be released.

The African Human Rights Coalition, a group that promotes LGBTQ rights in Africa, last week called for a boycott of WorldPride, noting an “antagonistic fascist regime which presents distinct dangers to foreign LGBTQI+ attendees” now governs the U.S. Egale Canada, one of Canada’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organizations, in February announced its members will not attend WorldPride and any other event in the U.S. because of the Trump-Vance administration’s policies.