Global activism and sexualities in the time of HIV/AIDS

This contribution responds to the question of how transnational human rights networks affect people's politics in the global south and what is the role of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) category in claiming rights for others. The main concern of the paper is to reflect on the relationship between the people on whose behalf rights are claimed and those who are claiming these rights from within a global context. Theoretically, the argument locates itself within the discussions of politics of recognition and distribution. It examines the implications of the use of internationally recognized categories of LGBTI and men who have sex with men (MSM) for the voices of local activists in India and sub-Saharan Africa and suggests that solidaristic categorizations can silence difference as well as articulate it.