It was back in 1999-2000 when the first mainstream books on same-sex love were released in India. A decade later, tales of gay love have flown out of the pages and onto the roads

THEN (1999-2000)
MiD DAY caught up with Ruth Vanita, Professor, Liberal Studies, University of Montana, and the woman behind Same Sex Love in India (published 2000), the first book to bring gay love to the public eye. What is even more remarkable is that the title talked about how same-sex relationships were rampant in India since times immemorial, with foolproof facts from history and literature in support.

To write a book like this back then must've been like blasphemy. Didu00a0 they ostracize you? How did you deal with it?
No one ostracised us. When published, the book was well received and positively reviewed. The only problem we faced was that initially, in the late Nineties, the two main English-language publishers in India were too afraid to publish it because they expected a backlash. So we had to first publish it in the US (in 2000) and then in India (2001).