Queerness and LGBTQ+ Rights

As Samra discovers her true identity as a queer person, she becomes an advocate and activist for the LGBTQ+ community, encouraging readers to embrace all facets of their identities. Samra’s early belief that she is asexual suggests that queerness was not presented to her as an option for her sexual identity. Without an education on or introduction to the queer community, she defaulted to a sexual identity that didn’t fit, but that was familiar to her. Despite an early lack of awareness or education about the queer community, Samra is clearly drawn to non-normative gender expressions from an early age, as demonstrated by her fascination with the woman with the shaved head and the hijra she encounters in Chapter One. It is only when Samra meets and befriends members of the LGBTQ+ community in early adulthood that she finds a label that fits...