reflections @rangoli-pgh - Tumblr Blog

https://forms.gle/HMux7hmoxh8EQ8288

WE WANT YOUR VOICE. Rangoli Pittsburgh is seeking submissions for our second publication, Mirrors II: LGBTQ+ South Asian Voices! This edition of Mirrors will primarily be a digital zine, so you can submit anything, including prose, poetry, essays, photography, music, video, illustrations, etc! You can look over the submission guidelines at the link above and email your submissions to [email protected]. Submission deadline is Jan 31, 2020.

#desi #south asia #lgbt #lgbtq south asian #signal boost #lgbt anthology #queer #photo #queer anthology #literature #don't look at me #writers on tumblr #anthology #artists on tumblr

desbianherstory

Farrah Khan is a queer Muslim woman of Dutch and Indian descent who has spent two decades raising awareness about the intersections of gender-based violence and equity through education, policy, and advocacy. She is a member of the Government of Canada’s Federal Strategy Against Gender-based Violence Advisory Council, former co-chair of the Ontario Government Provincial Roundtable on Violence Against Women and currently the manager of Consent Comes First at Ryerson University. Farrah is also the founder of Possibility Seeds Consulting where she is currently co-leading the development of the National Framework to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence At Post-Secondary Institutions. In 2018, Farrah was appointed to the Gender Equality Advisory Council for the G7 Summit. Farrah regularly contributes to national media for her expertise in addressing gender based violence. She holds a combined double major from York University in Women’s Studies and Environmental Studies and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto. She is married to Kristyn Wong-Tam, Toronto’s first openly lesbian city councillor.

On June 1, join Rangoli Pittsburgh in celebrating LGBTQ+ AAPI Day of Visibility! Share the FB event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2182416365128005/ We ask you to use the hashtags #QueerAndAsian #QAAPI #QAAPIDay to share your stories and histories, your selfies, your LGBTQ+ heroes, and your beautiful LGBTQ+ AAPI selves! Check out our LGBTQ+ AAPI Day of Visibility Toolkit for some inspiration (https://tinyurl.com/qaapitoolkit) and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and FB at @rangolipgh to participate on June 1! In addition to the digital campaign, Rangoli Pittsburgh (in association with the Lgbtqia+ Advisory Council of Pittsburgh) will be hosting a panel discussion (https://www.facebook.com/events/447568945787528/) on June 1, from 2:30 - 4:30 PM at the Liberty Conference Room in the Allegheny County DHS building. Come listen to our panel of LGBTQ+ AAPIs talk about their experiences and hopes for our community!

#lgbt #aapi #asian american #queer #lgbt asian #lgbtq asian #lgbtq #queer activism #queer asian #lgbtq aapi #lgbtq aapi day of visibility #qaapi #qaapiday #queerandasian

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Look at his rainbow beard 😍😍 yesss

desbianherstory

Sapna Kumar is an Indian-American lesbian comedian and actress. As a stand-up comic, Sapna has been seen on LOGO TV’s “One Night Stand Up 9,” and NBC’s “Last Comic Standing 4,” and was voted one of the 50 Hottest Women in Comedy in 2013 by AfterEllen.com. Sapna‘s self-produced short “Sapphic Press” screened at the Reeling International Film Festival in Chicago, the Queer Women of Color Arts Project in San Francisco, and America’s Rainbow Film Festival in New York. She also played a supporting role in the indie feature Promise Land, which was a Sundance Film Festival Selection, and appeared in the OUTFEST selection Jamie and Jessie Are Not Together.

Interview in Jiah, 2010.

sabyaasachi

SONAM KAPOOR DID THAT. She has always been a strong advocate for LGBTQ rights in India and now she’s bringing queer representation to the silver screen!

‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’ could be the first mainstream queer bollywood film to be made!!!

Story written by Gazal Dhaliwal - Watch the trailer HERE

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desbianherstory

Hi! Your blog is incredible and so informative. Do you know of any other blogs similar to yours (South Asian LGBTQA+ or even just South Asian)? Thank you again for all your hard work!

Thanks!

Desifemslash has been doing this work for years. I’d recommend following her blog.

Dhrupad and pyotra are fantastic too.

If anyone has any further suggestions , feel free to reply.

desbianherstory

Nilu Doma Sherpa (1985-2017) was Nepal’s first openly lesbian film director. Sherpa debuted as a film director in 2015 with How Funny. She had also worked as an assistant director of the first Nepali movie about lesbian love, Soongava. In 2017, she died unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 32. She had been working on her second film.

desbianherstory

Creative Direction @huqthat; Photographer @a8lia; Stylist @rhiannon_isabel; Makeup Artist @umberghauri; Makeup Direction @urgalsal_; Hair @nadz_queenie; Model @amanithepoet @n00rvana; Henna @huqthat

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I’m Nabi, a 21-year-old illustrator and unfortunate trans guy trying to get away from an abusive family. My parents are from a strictly

HEY YALL the GoFundMe is back up!!! Please donate! I need it now more than ever after dodging that huge bullet and finally splitting off from my family!!! Thank you so much, all of you, for helping me make the decision to leave them behind and go through who I truly am! Thank you, thank you so much!

desbianherstory

“The first in the BI-series is a relatively little-known sacred narrative from the 14th century, the story of two queens and co-wives who became lovers after being widowed, and birthed the hero Bhagiratha.

This graphic narrative is inspired by Ruth Vanita’s essay, “Born to Two Mothers, The Hero Bhagiratha,” and has adopted a version of the story from the same essay.

Artwork by: Priya Dali” [x]

desbianherstory

Hello, my name is Karla Lamb. I am the senior project manager at City of Asylum Pittsburgh, PA. I am writing to invite you to participate in an event at City of Asylum @ Alphabet City that we are hosting in collaboration with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra by reading / performing some of your poetry. Please let me know if you are interested and I can email you more information. Sincerely, Karla Lamb Senior Project Manager City of Asylum 412-435-1110

Hello Karla! Could you please send us an email with the details at [email protected]? We’re definitely interested!

#Anonymous

desbianherstory

“Lesbian. Lezbian. Lez-beeyun.

I took the longest time to say the word. Even longer to put my name in front of it. When I first caught grasp of what it meant to me, I’d mouth it ever so slowly, never letting the sound of it escape my lips for fear I might actually hear it. When I mustered up the courage to whisper it, I hated the way it sounded; it seemed so dirty, filthy, unnatural.

It’s the first word I’m teaching my kids to say. Not mum, not mommy. Lesbian.

One rainy day, I was wrestling my conscience in front of the bathroom mirror and I couldn’t contain myself. Index finger pointed at the center of my reflection’s accusatory nose I roared, “Lesbian!” The argument was over. I smiled. It fit. I said it again and again. By the end of the day, I was Samira, a lesbian. The rainbow was in plain sight.

…I am a woman, a lesbian, and an Indian — three wonderful minorities that have, over the years, created a strong personality I am proud to call my own.

Before I moved to the United States, I lived in Chennai, India, for 23 years. I’ve never been in the closet. Well, not really. I’ve always been butch — short hair, boys’ clothes, a gentleman’s manner, and of course, a way with the ladies. But in India, not being in the closet doesn’t necessarily mean being out of it. As long as you keep the tongue tied and let the blind ignore the obvious, being a lesbian is a piece of cake. But it wasn’t so much about being gay as it was about being different.

It was a daily routine of playing the tomboy for my family until it got so old everybody knew I wasn’t growing out of it. It was time to talk. But silence was all I ever heard. I ended every sentence just as soon as I put the words together.

I must’ve been about 18 when a cop cornered me at the end of the street. To him I was a young boy with an attitude problem. I had it coming. Let’s just say what happened next wasn’t pleasant and I didn’t leave the scene unscarred.

I didn’t say a word. I didn’t tell my parents. I didn’t tell anyone.

I moved to the U.S. a few years later. I wasn’t trying to escape; I’d learned to live with my life and I did a pretty decent job of it. I took to the stage. I sang. I wrote poetry, stories and plays. I had a job. I did well for myself. I didn’t know what I was missing.

When I came to Tampa, all I could say was, “I am gay.” I still couldn’t stomach the word lesbian. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I liked being gay. I was okay with it, proud even. But I couldn’t talk about it. Not with my roommates, not with my Indian friends.

I haven’t met another gay Indian woman in Tampa. I wonder where they are, sometimes if they are. As the self-proclaimed, stand-alone Indian lesbian in the area, I have taken it upon myself to educate the rest of the Indian population in Tampa about the LGBT community as best I can.

…I love being a true Indian, one who can embrace the honesty of an inclusive culture. But it isn’t the only culture I’m a part of. After years of contemplation and trying to marry the two, I now wear both flags with pride.

Three and a half years later and I am an obnoxious lesbian. The stage knows it. My audience knows it. My pen knows it. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube know it.

The world knows it.

As for my family in Chennai, some conversations are just easier with strangers.”

—Samira Obeid, “Dykotomy: growing up lesbian in India.” [x]

desbianherstory

Arjun Kamath, from “Coming Out” series, 2015.

The fictional narrative shared the story of two Indian women coming out to the world, from the initial moment of love and bravery, shown through the character Maitreyi leading Alpana out into a forest, to a horrific ending.

See the full series here.