Hello and welcome to Queer is Fact, the podcast bringing you queer history from around the world and throughout time.

I'm Alice.

I'm Irene.

And I'm Eli.

And today we're talking about Heedra in 19th century India.

Before we begin, I'd like to acknowledge the Bonarang-Bunurang people of the Kulin Nation

as the traditional owners of the land on which we record this podcast and pay my respect

to their elders past and present.

We recognise them as the custodians of an oral history tradition far older than this podcast.

We have some content warnings before we begin this episode.

This episode will include discussions of castration, including the castration of minors,

discussions of British colonial rule of India, including racist and genocidal anti-hudra policies

by the British, the removal of children from hedger households, and non-consensual medical

examination.

There were discussions of sex work and the use of outdated and offensive language for sex work

and sex workers workers in quotes,

discussions of sexual abuse and of the forced prostitution of minors,

discussions of murder in the context of domestic violence,

discussions in the kidnapping of children,

and the use of outdated language for intersex people in quotes.

If any of that sounds like something you don't want to hear,

feel free to skip this episode and check out our other content.

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