Ani Dutta (they, she) is a nobinary transfemme kothi person who is an Associate Professor of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa. Dutta also works as a volunteer and advisor with several collectives of trans and gender non-conforming communities such as kothis and hijras in eastern India. Mikail Khan speaks to Ani about how the 2024 Lok Sabha Indian elections are coopting transgender and kothi people within the Brahminical and Hindutva state-building project and how hijraphobia and false claims of 'Hinduphobia' are impacting movements for trans liberation in India and rest of South Asia.

Izu Islam is a nonbinary transfem Bangladeshi immigrant who has been involved in abolitionist efforts and movements against LGBTQ violence and Islamophobia in the U.S. and beyond. Mikail Khan speaks to Izu on how abolition may or may not be playing a role in Bangladeshi and U.S. based LGBTQ movements and social spaces. Other topics that are touched upon are community care models, how caste is existent within Muslim societies, and the effects of transmisogyny and gay misogyny on forming relationships.

Dr. Aijaz Ahmad Bund is a LGBT activist from Kashmir. He is the founder and Chairperson of Sonzal Welfare Trust that works for the welfare of gender and sexual minorities in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Mikail Khan speaks to Dr. Aijaz on the pitfalls and complexities of visibility politics, pinkwashing, and the militarization of queer and trans people living under the brutal occupation in Indian-occupied Kashmir.