An Indefinite Sentence: A Personal History of Outlawed Love and Sex

A thoughtful, moving, and brave memoir by a prominent activist that chronicles his experience growing up gay in India and shows how the challenges and traumas he faced inspired him to become an advocate for members of society facing discrimination, including the downtrodden sex workers of South Asia.

At the age of ten, Siddharth Dube was only just starting to understand some of his life’s defining preoccupations; he realized he was gay, and it was—and still is—dangerous to be gay in India.

In this memoir, Dube shares his journey from overcoming his own personal traumas to becoming a staunch fighter for the downtrodden and oppressed: from the elite Doon School in New Delhi to Harvard University to the unsafe streets where lonely men sought each other for sex; from the halls of power at the World Bank and the United Nations to jail cells where sex workers were subjected to abuse at the whim of misguided officials.

In a book that is both deeply personal and a passionate appeal for social justice, Dube writes with insight about his own search for love and self-respect, and of the struggles of the oppressed in a time of global right wing ascendancy. AnIndefinite Sentence is a beautiful and unforgettable tour de force that celebrates dignity and equality, and holds accountable those who would deny anyone the priceless joys of a liberated human life.