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A major challenge in teacher education in the United States is how to address the academic and linguistic needs of the growing numbers of emergent bilingual students. A second challenge is how to prepare predominantly White monolingual preservice teachers with little exposure to speakers of languages other than English to educate culturally and linguistically diverse students. With these two challenges in mind, this study examines how a course on literacy, language, and culture grounded in pedagogies of discomfort shifts preservice teachers’ deficit orientations toward emergent bilingual students’ language and literacy resources. Using Ofelia García’s (2009) definition for emergent bilingualism, this mixed-method study was conducted from 2011 to 2013 with 73 preservice teacher participants enrolled at an urban mid-Atlantic university. Quantitative data consisted of pre and post surveys while qualitative data comprised written responses to open-ended statements, self-analyses, and participant interviews. Findings evidence preservice teachers’ endorsement of monolingualism before coursework; however, pedagogies of discomfort during coursework provoke critical reflection leading to significant shifts in preservice teachers’ dispositions toward teaching language diversity in the classroom with implications for teaching emergent bilingual students.

The purpose of this study is to examine the advancement of cultural transformation over time demands certain alterations in human perceptions. It also aims to examine the 21st century’s many radical changes in India, the constant legal battles to decriminalize homosexuality, and challenges to the rigid dichotomy between heterosexuality and homosexuality. Besides, it influences popular culture among the masses, which has turned out to create a more visible space for the lesbian community. In India, lesbian literature begins synchronously under the shades of women’s writing and feminism that wires new hopes for their identity.

This paper examines a primary text as Indian writer Abha Dawesar’s Babyji (2005). There comes the iconic work of Abha Dawesar’s Babyji (2005), which creates a turning point by introducing the life, inner conflict and turbulence of a teenage girl. In addition, a textual analysis of this novel brings forth an analysis of attributes such as sexuality, gender and the interplay of caste and class that meld lesbian childhood and adolescence. This paper also examines how a lesbian girl adapts to and negotiates her maturation amidst vivid social scenarios and cultural conditioning.

A few studies (Hidalgo, et al., 2013; Bem, 1989; Pyne, 2016) show many children have reached or crossed their teenage life without accurate or affirmative knowledge of sexuality and gender. Parents, teachers and even other intellectuals of the adult world fail to transfer their knowledge effectively to children. Definitely, the relevance of sex education is paramount, but more important is what implementation tactics should be used for the same cause. The point is that sex education should not be condensed into a certain gender or perpetuate parochial discrimination. It needs to adapt an age-appropriate curriculum for the cognitive and emotional development of the individuals. Considering these factors, understanding comprehensive sex education is what is most likely to find sustainable remedies for this matter. Gerald writes about a socialization process and gays and lesbians hiding their identity from family and society; a fear of rejection; there is a social gap in peer and family spheres. These fears prevent lesbian or gay young persons from fully developing their identities (1999). Rao and Mason tested a model derived from minority stress theory in which the perceived impact of Section 377 increases depressive symptoms of sexual minorities by increasing concealment stress, leading to a diminished sense of belonging. Because of their minority status, they are more vulnerable to and have a higher prevalence of mental illness than heterosexual individuals (2018).

Babyji has created a discourse to perpetuate normativity and gives importance to the mental health of the excluded lesbian group. It opens a door to studying teenage groups’ issues and their challenges to understanding social and mental issues regarding their identity. A study on this untouched area is required to highlight their issues and mental health problems. This research is an initiative step to create and provide a platform to raise awareness in society.

Taking as a point of departure the edited collection Yaraana (1999), ostensibly the first mainstream publication on gay writing from India, the purpose of this article is to trace the way Indian authors have dealt with the growing visibility of nonnormative sexualities. It suggests that from the start this debate has centered on a dyad between local and culturally specific sexual identities vs its globalized opposite, which is held to threaten regionally specific expressions. The continuing struggle for recognition and equality is revealing for a growing divide between those whose sexuality can rely on growing representation in Indian popular media, and those who feel increasingly marginalized.

This article revisits important texts that were published and publicly accessible in India from 1999 onwards. All the text considered and discussed were accessible outside academic networks and thus, available in mainstream bookstores, produced by Indian authors or long-term residents and available in English. Considering the vast language diversity of India as well as the complexity of gaining access to locally published materials, the analysis does not include texts that are only available in a vernacular language. Besides this, the article benefits from the direct input of key activists and scholars from India working on this topic.

Even if homosexuality has now been decriminalized in India, what emerges from the writing is a concern that globally hegemonic expressions of alternate sexualities might impact, homogenize and eventually eradicate locally specific expressions. Considering socioeconomic equality in India, this raises serious questions about those whose precarious positions may see them further marginalized because of this.

While there have been various overviews and analyses of the fight for decriminalization of homosexuality in India, so far there has not been an analysis how this benefited from a growing awareness and discussion in popularly accessible texts. This analysis also raises concerns that the fight for decriminalization might have negative consequences for those in marginalized positions.