A piece and call-to-action regarding the India Supreme Court's recent recriminalization of LGBTQH identity by Dr. Harjant Gill, assistant professor of anthropology at Towson University.

"In July of 2009, the Delhi High Court "read down" Section 377, the 153-year old sodomy laws instituted by the British, making sex between two consenting adults, regardless of their gender, legal. This was a monumental victory for the LGBTQH (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Hijra) communities in India, and their struggle for equal rights. Indians living abroad like myself, who have been working to promote visibility and acceptance of sexual minorities in South Asian communities in diaspora, welcomed and cheered the news. We felt an incredible sense of pride in our nation, and its judicial system that privileged human dignity and equal rights over political campaigns based on religious bigotry, intolerance, policing public morality and using fear to drum up support. Now the nation's highest court is trying to make us into criminals -- again..."

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UMBC is once again hosting the Global Gam Jam this January. It will run from 5pm Friday, January 24th to 5pm Sunday, January 26th, just before classes start. Once again, thanks to a generous donation by NextCentury, registration is free. Space is limited, so sign up now! 

For anyone who hasn’t participated, the global game jam is a 48 hour game development event with hundreds of host sites around the world. At 5pm local time, introduce the jam and announce this year’s theme. Previous year’s themes have ranged from a phrase (“as long as we’re together there will always be problems”) to a word (“extinction”) to an image (ouroboros: a snake eating its tail), to a sound (the recording of a heartbeat). Participants brainstorm game ideas around the theme, form into teams, and spend the weekend building games that are designed to be both fun and express the theme.

The UMBC site is not restricted to just students. In previous years, we have had a mix of UMBC students, faculty, alumni, students from other schools, game development professionals, and just people with an interest in game development. More details at gaim.umbc.edu/global-game-jam. However, we are limited to just 40 participants, so sign up early if you want to come. If the UMBC site fills, other local(ish) sites include the Unviersity of Baltimore, American University, and George Mason University.