Minority within a minority

Same-sex issues discussed at South Asian GLBTIQ forum

In a first for Australia, the South Asian community came together on November 3 to talk about queer life for desis living here. The forum titled Let’s Talk: Being South Asian and GLBTIQ was arranged by Trikone Australasia, and held at ACON’s Surry Hills premises. South Asians constitute one of Australia’s fastest growing communities and hail from the Indian subcontinent, comprising countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives. The event brought together over 60 people from varying cultural and religious backgrounds.

In a relaxed atmosphere, the audience heard the views of a panel of experts including health professional Aziz Mahee; psychologist Sekneh HammoudBeckett; social justice advocate and commentator Senthorun Raj; academic and author Dr Yasmin Tambiah; and lawyer Meena Sripathy. The panel discussed wide-ranging topics from human rights to depictions of same-sex love in Hindu and Buddhist texts. The audience listened attentively as the panel recounted their own stories of coming out in South Asian families. The presentations were followed by a lively and at times moving, question and discussion session chaired by Andy Quan, author and musician.

“Let’s Talk has been a great opportunity for South Asians to come together and talk about issues that aren’t openly discussed within our communities,” said Alan Maurice, co-Chair of Trikone Australasia.

“The South Asian GLBTIQ community is a minority within a minority, and at the forum we came together to talk about our identity, our visibility and our communities.

Many GLBTIQ South Asians have to leave home to be able to live their lives freely. We hope that today is the first step in making this process easier and that it increases the visibility of GLBTIQ South Asians so that others know they are not alone,” he added.

“The forum was fantastic,” said a member of the audience. “When I first came out there were very few gay South Asian people around. The organisers are creating something that has been needed for a long time.”

Following its success, organisers hope to make the event an annual fixture on the GLBTIQ community calendar. Let’s Talk was sponsored by ACON and Parish Patience Immigration Lawyers.

Trikone Australasia can be contacted via www.trikone.org.au Simon Ruth