This chapter offers an introduction to postcolonialisms and sexualities, or what we call postcolonial sexualities, by providing an overview of relevant issues and scholarly insights. Understanding postcolonialism to be the process, aftermath, and ongoing legacies of Euro-American colonialisms, the article explores sexual politics, knowledges, and identities during the colonial encounter and in its postcolonial aftermath. Using a variety of examples taken from different times and places, it illustrates how sexuality and colonial governance intersected and how these histories continue to unfold in the ex-colonies as well as in the heart of the erstwhile empires. To this purpose, it draws on feminist, sexuality/queer, and critical race studies scholarship to highlight the significance of race and gender to understanding postcolonial sexualities.
