Dr. Akshay Khanna is a Social Anthropologist, political activist, theatre practitioner and amateur chef based in New Delhi. Akshay has been involved with Queer movements in India and elsewhere for close to two decades and in a range of capacities. akshay’s initial training was in law, after which it worked at a Human Rights NGO in New Delhi. This was followed by an MA Medical Anthropology (SOAS) and a PhD in Social Anthropology at the University of Edinburgh. akshay has, since, held the position of Lecturer in Sociology at Lancaster University, as Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, and as an independent consultant in international development and human rights. At the IDS, akshay convened the Sexuality and Development Programme and was instrumental in expanding the scope of the programme to focus on the political economy of sexuality, questions of law, legality and constitutionalism, and issues around race, nation and fundamentalism. akshay also led on the development of a philosophical, political and analytical approach called ‘Unruly Politics’ and a successful course of the same name. akshay’s first book length ethnography, 'Sexualness' (2016, New Text) tells a story of Queer activism in India and offers a theoretical frame that demonstrates what it looks like to look at the sexual from the south. akshay’s current research relates to the erotics of political authority and unruly politics. akshay is co-director of RAPT (Research Activism Performance and Theatre), which uses and trains people in the use of theatre as a methodology of research. Rachana Mudraboyina is a Telangana transgender activist who is facilitating the event for Astrea in Hyderabad. Rachana 9866717712 R. Meera 9849204711