The collection, 'Million Voices Campaign,' consists of three series - 'Banners with Comments from Million Voices Campaign,' 'Documents and Notes from PLD Workshops,' and 'Handpainted Demonstration Posters from the Million Voices Campaign, 2009'.
The first series, 'Banners with Comments from Million Voices Campaign Workshops' consists of six cloth banners with comments containing the first expressions from grassroots activists from the women's rights and development sector on the issue of decriminalization of homosexuality by Section 377 of the IPC. The selected handwritten comments written in Hindi and English were collected at special sessions held during CEDAW capacity building workshops organized by Partners for Law in Development (PLD). The workshop participants were introduced to the Naz Foundation case in an open session, usually at the end of the day, following a film screening, which served as a tool to communicate the lived realities and of queer persons. At the end of the session, cloth sheets were laid out for participants to scribble their comments on them.
The items of this accession are from six such workshops organized by PLD in Jharkhand, Bihar, New Delhi and Odisha between 2008 and 2010. Later, the cloth sheets were stitched together to be used in demonstrations around the city, as one long cloth banner to convey the voices of ordinary citizens on the issue. The comments were relatable, generating conversations in the public that would stop by to look at the banner - widening engagement.
The second series, 'Documents and Notes from PLD Workshops,' comprises work plans and discussion notes from CEDAW workshops organised between 2008 and 2010, including sessions that addressed the constitutional challenge to Section 377. Produced as part of PLD's organisational record-keeping, documentation, and learning practices, these materials provide insight into the broader debates fostered by the CEDAW capacity-building workshops on women, gender, and discrimination, within which the Million Voices Campaign (MVC) sessions were situated. Only a selective body of documents has been retained - not solely for their relevance to the decriminalisation of homosexuality and the Million Voices Campaign, but more significantly for their value in tracing PLD's learning processes and pathways for integrating queer rights into its core work on women, gender, sexuality, and the law. Preserved within the archive, these materials document the methodologies and internal processes through which PLD conceptualised and implemented its day-to-day work as part of the Million Voices Campaign.
The third series, 'Handpainted Demonstration Posters from the Million Voices Campaign, 2009' comprises two hand-painted cloth posters that celebrate sexual diversity and protest the criminalisation of homosexuality. Created as visual and artistic tools for the Million Voices Campaign discussion sessions on homosexuality, these posters functioned both as pedagogical aids within workshops and as materials for public demonstration. They were also carried by PLD members during Pride marches in Delhi, situating them at the intersection of internal movement-building and public advocacy.
Collection is open for access unless mentioned in specific folders of the finding aid.
Copyright may not have been assigned to Archives, National Centre for Biological Sciences. Permission for reproduction or distribution must be obtained in writing from the Archives at NCBS (archives@ncbs.res.in). The Archives at NCBS makes no representation that it is the copyright owner in all of its collections. The user must obtain all necessary rights and clearances before use of material and material may only be reproduced for academic and non-commercial use.
The intellectual arrangement strives to preserve provenance and original order of the papers. Where an original order could not be found, we have applied an order, and folders within the series are arranged in chronological order. See Content Description section for details.
Partners for Law in Development (PLD) is a legal resource group founded in 1998 that works to advance women's rights and social justice through an intersectional feminist lens. It focuses on contexts shaped by gender, sexuality, caste, poverty, and the law. PLD was a founding member of Voices Against 377 (V377), a Delhi-based coalition of 17 organizations and individuals formed around 2003. V377 supported the legal challenge to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalized homosexuality. Following the Delhi High Court's dismissal of the Naz Foundation's petition in 2004, the coalition intervened in the constitutional challenge so as to demonstrate that Section 377 was opposed by a broad cross-section of society, to mobilise and ensure consultations with the queer community, and to engage the public in conversations about myths and stereotypes surrounding gender and sexuality. As part of its public outreach, V377 launched the Million Voices Campaign (MVC) on December 9, 2004. This campaign encouraged people to express their thoughts on sexual diversity and homosexuality by writing on cloth pieces, later stitched together to form long banners for display in public events and marches. PLD led the MVC efforts in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Delhi through its grassroots workshops on CEDAW - the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - between 2008 and 2010. These workshops explored how gender binaries and sexual normativity were reinforced through laws, including Section 377. Each such session culminated with discussions on the Naz Foundation case, often in combination with film screenings, following which the participants would share their views and write comments on cloth banners - now part of the MVC archive.
AR-001, Voices Against 377, Archives at NCBS
Processed as part of NCBS PAST 2025-26. Grantee Name: Partners For Law In Development, Grant Title: Archiving records of community action on women's and queer rights. For details, see
This banner was created following a special discussion and film screening (Million Voices Campaign) held during Partners for Law in Development's capacity building workshop on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in Ranchi, Jharkhand held between 11 September 2008 and 14 September 2008 for grassroots development workers from the state. The banner consists of 29 hand-written comments in Hindi and English and two signatures, expressing the participants' thoughts, reflections or support towards the decriminalization of homosexuality (by repealing of Section 377) in India. The comments range from poetic expressions on the right to love freely to concise objections against Section 377, capturing a spectrum of people's initial responses to the topic.
Access Level 2: Available upon request. See
This banner was created following a special discussion and film screening (Million Voices Campaign) held during Partners for Law in Development's capacity building workshop on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, held between 26 September 2008 and 29 September 2008 for grassroots development workers from the state. The banner consists of 13 hand-written comments in Hindi and English, and two signatures, expressing the participants' thoughts, reflections or support towards the decriminalization of homosexuality (by the repealing of Section 377). The comments range from poetic expressions on the right to love freely to concise objections against Section 377, capturing a spectrum of people's initial responses to the topic.
Access Level 2: Available upon request. See
This banner was created following a special discussion and film screening (Million Voices Campaign) held during Partners for Law in Development's capacity building workshop on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha held between 11 December 2008 and 14 December 2008 for grassroots development workers from the state. The banner consists of 20 hand-written comments in English and two signatures, expressing the participants' thoughts and support towards the decriminalization of homosexuality (by repealing Section 377). The comments range from rights-oriented expressions on the freedom to love to objections regarding the validity of Section 377, capturing a spectrum of people's initial responses to the topic.
Access Level 2: Available upon request. See
This banner was created during a during a Training for Trainers Workshop held by Partners for Law in Development on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in New Delhi between 29 January 2009 and 2 February 2009, for community workers and activists from Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand with whom the project 'grounding of CEDAW in grassroots action' was carried out. In this workshop, a special session on criminalisation of homosexuality was held, where the constitutional challenge in Delhi High Court was discussed, and a feature film was viewed for discussion. The participants were invited to write their thoughts and expressions on the incriminating Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which was under challenge. Accordingly, the banner consists of 15 hand-written comments in Hindi and 14 signatures; the comments range from rights-affirming expressions to condeming discrimination, capturing a spectrum of responses to the topic.
Access Level 2: Available upon request. See
This banner was created during a special discussion and film screening (Million Voices Campaign) held during Partners for Law in Development's workshop on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in Patna, Bihar, held between 10 February 2010 and 13 February 2010 for grassroots development workers from the state. The banner consists of two hand-written comments in Hindi and 24 signatures, expressing the participants' thoughts and support towards the decriminalization of homosexuality through the repealing of Section 377.
Access Level 2: Available upon request. See
This banner was created during a special discussion and film screening (Million Voices Campaign) held during Partners for Law in Development's workshop on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in Ranchi, Jharkhand, held between 22 February 2010 and 25 February 2010 for grassroots development workers from the state. The banner consists of seven hand-written comments in Hindi and English and three signatures, expressing the participants' thoughts and support towards the decriminalization of homosexuality through the repealing of Section 377. The comments range from objections against Section 377 on the grounds of human rights to the need for larger dialogue on the matter, capturing a spectrum of people's initial responses to the topic.
Access Level 2: Available upon request. See
This folder contains one set of handwritten meeting notes created during the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) capacity building workshop held in Patna, Bihar, in 2008. The notes cover the proceedings and discussion points on gender and human rights covered during the CEDAW sessions. Towards the end of the notes, the discussion points brought up in the special session on homosexuality are described.
Access Level 3: Restricted access. See
This document contains the state-wise and gender break up of participants, district reprentation at workshops on Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) held across three states of Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand in 2008. It also states the work plans and activity reports prepared by participants across these states. This document is evidence of the process oriented approach and continuing engagement carried out with grassroots activists on gender discrimination, and the embeding of criminalisation of homosexuality within this framework.
Access Level 3: Restricted access. See
Demonstration Posters from the Million Voices Campaign-1
This is a set of two cloth posters made by Partners for Law in Development in 2009 for the Million Voices Campaign as symbolic and artistic artefacts to aid the process of initiating community consciousness and dialogue. They contain hand-painted slogans celebrating sexual diversity and against Section 377, such as 'Down with 377' and 'Celebrate Sexual Diversity.' They were used during the discussions on homosexuality after the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women training workshops, as well as in other events such as Pride Marches/celebrations in New Delhi.
Access Level 1: Online. See
Demonstration Posters from the Million Voices Campaign-2
This is a single cloth banner with the name of the coalition, Voices Against 377, hand-painted on it. It was used in workshops, Pride marches, and demonstrations to make our coalition visible.
Access Level 1: Online. See