India, April 1 -- When Arpita Das founded Yoda Press in 2004, she had a clear intent to publish writing by and about LGBTQIA+ people. With urban studies scholar Gautam Bhan helming it as the series editor, it was called the Sexualities list. "It wasn't about whether it was cool or financially lucrative at all," she says, "but the fact that I had access to a marvellous burgeoning author pool."

Das's early list included Gautam Bhan and Arvind Narrain's edited volume Because I Have a Voice: Queer Politics in India, and Maya Sharma's Loving Women: Being Lesbian in Unprivileged India, books that have acquired the status of queer classics. These titles appeared long before mainstream publishers began to view queer writing as a viable category....