The emergence of an international South Asian gay and lesbian community is most clearly reflected in the pioneering anthology A Lotus of Another Color: An Unfolding of the South Asian Gay and Lesbian Experience (1993). Edited by Rakesh Ratti, this volume consists of coming-out narratives, poetry, fiction, biography, and formal essays by thirty-two gay, lesbian, and bisexual contributors from around the world.

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Some of the entries in the volume attempt to document gay and lesbian presence in the histories, mythologies, and religious traditions of South Asia; others articulate the lived and imagined experiences of contemporary South Asian gay men and lesbians.

Some of the most compelling pieces in the anthology are the autobiographical narratives that reveal the complex intersections of ethnicity, migrancy, post-coloniality, and (homo)sexuality in the lives of diasporic South Asians. The individual voices in the volume suggest the heterogeneity of the South Asian queer experience; yet their voices, collectively, succeed eminently in defining and articulating a singular South Asian queer identity.

A landmark event in the history of South Asian gay and lesbian writing, the publication of A Lotus of a Different Color will no doubt give impetus to the growth of this fledgling literary tradition.

The recent popularity of Asian films with English-language audiences has allowed Western audiences a glimpse of Asian gay and lesbian identities and gender ambiguities in high-profile queer films.

The dominant religion of modern India, Hinduism is no longer as tolerant of same-sex sexual relations as it seems to have been in the past.

Indian thought towards same-sex eroticism and gender variance was more tolerant in the past than it is today.

Not only is sexuality celebrated in Indian art, but many of India's gods also consider gender to be a fluid affair, sometimes manifesting as androgynes and sometimes switching gender altogether.

Indian playwright, screenwriter, dancer, director, and actor Mahesh Dattani is an important figure in South Asian gay culture by virtue of his recurrent depiction of queer characters.

The Hijras--men who dress and act like women--have been a presence in India for generations, maintaining a third-gender role that has become institutionalized through tradition.

Indian writer Firdaus Kanga has explored the intersection of two kinds of marginality: that based on being a member of a sexual minority and that based on being a disabled person.

Although he does not employ the idiom of identity politics, Hanif Kureishi frequently gives gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals significant roles in his works.

Sri Lankan-Canadian writer Shyam Selvadurai has emerged as a significant figure in post-colonial and gay writing by virtue of the style, wit, and perspicacity of his three novels.