Dynamics of Chiyawali Koti Identity in Eastern India

This research seeks to understand how gender variant individuals partake in the process of ‘doing gender’ and use diverse vernacular terminologies/nomenclature to identify, demarcate and differentiate amongst themselves. The creation and promotion of alternative labels and demarcations also give rise to contested borders in between gender variant groups This research would try to see how diverse identities self-demarcate themselves, and how such categorizations interconnect/overlap/ interact/ isolate/ or negotiate with each other. In doing so this research would shed light on how the lived realities of individuals negotiate/ traverse between the socially established norms of heteronormativity and homonormativity.