A breath of fresh air...

A few months ago, the US refused to sign a United Nations declaration that urged countries to decriminalize homosexuality. Well today, the Obama Administration formally endorsed that UN statement, allowing the US to finally join sixty-six other nations who supported the measure this past December. State Department spokesman Robert Wood delivered the following,

"...as such, we join with other supporters of this statement, and we will continue to remind countries of the importance of respecting the human rights of all people in all appropriate international fora."

The approval effectively reverses eight years of silence on the part of the Bush Administration. While the declaration does little in terms of enforcement or any real action, it is the first of its kind. We can only hope that with the US vocally behind the rights of sexual minorities, nations like India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka can begin to see the errors of their human rights policies.

Weekly Mix Masala

In India, a pro-gay play finally starts running after receiving its censor certificate a year later.
Videos From India

More info on the play here: Queer Media Watch

Indian theater manager is killed over his sexual advances towards one his male employees
Queer Media Watch

Hare Krishna Women discuss research that 72% of truck drivers in North Pakistan who participated in a recent survey admitted that they had sex with males. And there's some really interesting research on homosocial relationships in South Asian culture in this post. Go check it out!
Hare Krishna Women

Assholes in India run women out of a bar by kicking and slapping them
The Observers

Ugh more assholes. Ken Starr is trying to forcibly divorce already married gay couples in Cali
Courage Campaign

Whoa - Kansas is introducing a bill to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s anti-discrimination law. If this full-blown Midwestern state is going for this, there is hope for the US.
365 Gay News

But then again - New York Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith said that he did not believe legislation to legalize marriage between same-sex couples has enough support to become law in 2009.
NYTimes

Full list of donors who donated to support Prop 8 in California
California Secretary of State

Weekly Mix Masala

Looks like New York's Senator replacement for Hillary Clinton is not too gay friendly
The Daily Dish

A new way for doctors to identify if someone is suffering from domestic violence by the pattern of fractures around the face
Jezebel

Facebook as political activism? Hello, we were totally on top of this trend circa 2006 (go check out our facebook group, Queer and Trans Desis (South Asians))
Jezebel

Iran has sentenced two internationally renowned Irani AIDS physicians to six and three years of prision for their plot to overthrow Iran’s Islamic regime. Sounds like some shady governing to me.
365gay.com

Eunuchs in da house! Eunuchs in India seek quota in jobs, government.
NDTV.com

In US schools, gays of color are at the highest risk for violence
365gay.com

At a photography session with Prince Mavendra Singh Gohil
asianwindow.com

New cases registered under section IPC 377:
Man booked under 377 for sexually assaulting an under-aged girl
Times of India

Teenaged boy says cop in uniform sodomized him for refusing to get liqour
Indian Express

And my personal favorite...
Murdered homosexual man posthumorously booked under 377 because he allegedly came on to the man that murdered him. How the hell is he supposed to defend himself if the only witness to his crime was his murderer? Does this not prove that Section 377 needs to change??
Express India

Why Sikhism Is Naturally Amenable to Gay Marriage (Sikhism and Homosexuality, Part I)

In light of Proposition 8, and the various religious arguments against gay marriage, I want to add a new perspective. Various policies regarding gay marriage in the Western world concern Sikhs. California, the home state of Prop 8, and Canada, which recently legalized same-sex marriage, contain high concentrations of the Sikh diaspora. In fact, the policies in Canada caused enough concern to generate some drama with the Sikh higher-ups (more on this later, in Sikhism and Homosexuality, Part II).

So in spite of the potential hate mail (if the wider world knew about queeristan) here is why I think that Sikhism unadulerated by cultural ideology is one of the few religions that is naturally poised to accept gay marriage.

The first point: the basic philosophy of Sikhism is that everyone is equal. It is one of the only religions that explicitly states that all sentient beings are equal. The Golden Temple, one of the most respected religious sites, has four entrances to symbolize this - anyone is welcome, regardless of their religion, color, caste, or gender. So it hardly seems in line with the religion that exceptions would be made to bar a specific group (in this case, LGBT's) from certain rights.

Secondly, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib is mum on the issue of gay marriage. All the religion promotes is a family lifestyle and marriage for all adherents because all Sikhs belong to the community and have a duty to further it. Hence, the solitary lifestyle is discouraged (no hot rogues a la the Wolverine for Sikhs). What options does this leave a gay Sikh? Either pretend to be straight and get married, or come out and still get married, but to someone of the same sex. But why even pretend to be straight? Philosophically, gay marriage and gay adoption don't seem antithetical to the Sikh religion - in fact, it seems essential for a gay Sikh to push for gay marriage and gay adoption to remain a a good Sikh.

Sikhism's foundation lies on it's tolerance and egalitarianism; it's structure promotes community, family, and marriage. Denying LGBT's the right to marry, adopt, and participate in the community doesn't seem to fit quite right.

While you wait for Part II, where we consider the realities rather than the philosophy, consider how accepting a religion will be when it has followers who have altered it's main symbol (the Khanda...click to see original form) into this:

Weekly Mix Masala

An HIV-positive woman from Pakistan has been shunned by her in-laws who have taken away her children. She contracted HIV from her husband, now deceased, who was a drug addict.
The News

Gay Penguins! Need I say more?
Telegraph

Over 200 condom vending machines to be installed in Lucknow, India
The Times of India

Across the border love - a Pakistani student created a website to find more gay men has fallen in love with a man in India he met through the internet. Frustratingly, the article doesn't link to his website, but I think we found it. Hit us up - we're "Queer Desi." The site ripped off facebook (hey, all's fair in love...), and the only statement in it's Terms & Services is "Be decent and nice."
NDTV.com

Despite Prop 8, GLAAD has released a poll that shows a majority of US Adults favor legal protections the LGBT community. Unsuprisingly, the poll shows that those under 65, and especially people 18-34, are more supportive of LGBT rights.
GLAAD

Everybody and their mother is in this skit against Prop 8, but all I see is Margaret Cho
Funny or Die

The Maldives is, uhh, sinking...
CNN

Cyprus grants resident status to gay Iranian asylum seeker
Pink News

Map: Counties against Prop 8 vs. Asian Population

Here's a fun little diddy for your Wed. Brought to you by OCD and MS Paint. Bee-tee-dubz, out of all the counties that voted against Prop 8, only two of them had no asian populations. In case you can't tell from my ghetto map.


*Based on 2007 Projected figures from US Census. Asian-only population.

Losing the Battle but Winning the War

Just two weeks ago, Barack Obama became the President-elect of the United States of America. And in a twist of fate California's notorious Proposition 8 also passed, effectively banning same-sex marriages in the Golden State. While similar anti-gay measures were passed in Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas, the California decision has stung our community the most.

In the past fourteen days there has been much finger-pointing as to who is truly responsible for getting this measure to pass. At first socially conservative African-Americans and Latino Americans were singled out for voting for a progressive presidential candidate while supporting this oppressive ballot question. Recently, The Church of Latter-Day Saints have been bearing much of the brunt after The New York Times revealed that significant Mormon donations may have tipped the scales. The outcry by the American gay community has been enormous. Perhaps some of you readers participated in the nationwide protests last weekend; it was queer mobilization to a scale not seen since Stonewall.

Nevertheless, one group remains relatively free from the Prop 8 backlash -- Asian-Americans (yes, that's us too). In the weeks leading to November 4th, The South Asian Journalist Association published that a majority of South Asians were against a ban on gay marriages. The South Asian Bar Association even endorsed NO on Prop 8, while the South Asian Network's director, Hamid Khan, spoke out against the measure as well.

On election day, the vote on Proposition 8 was split down the middle among Asians in California. According to exit polls, 51% of Asian-Americans voted against the ban while 49% supported it. Believe it or not, Asian-Americans came out on top in voting NO to Proposition 8. Out of the racial groups polled, Asians and Caucasians were the only two that voted as a majority against the measure. Check out the maps below!

County-by-County Breakdown of Prop 8 Voting Record vs. Asian-American Population

















Prop 8 Map -- The Los Angeles Times
Asian-American Population Map -- US Census Bureau
NO on Prop 8 Poster courtesy of thaths on Flickr

Weekly Mix Masala

The Kinsey Institute's International Encylopedia of Sexuality is all available online. Articles about India: 516; Nepal: 714; Sri Lanka: 972. For those of you virgins to the Kinsey name - Kinsey is considered the father of sexology. Go watch Kinsey, the movie, for a better idea.

The Kinsey Institute

Check out the website of famous Indian photographer Farrokh Chotia - he's photographed the likes of Aishwariya and Lakshmi Menon. Note the, ahem, color differences between the "ideal" beauty of the Bollywood stars and the more varied features of the legitimate models.

farrokchothia.com

Can't swallow the idea of real live Indian porn? Well there's a comic alternative for you, Savita Bhabhi. Unfortch, no queer scenes as of yet, but it's delightfully ironic.

Savita Bhabhi

Apple donates $100,000 to fight against Proposition 8, which is on the California ballot to eliminate the right of gay marriage from the state constitution. You know, I never would have guessed...

The Tech Chronicles

Turns out that Indians in the US aren't as conservative as we sometimes think. Indians are strong supporters of Obama, and additionally *drumroll* - A majority of Indians in California are against a constitutional amendment banning gay-marriage (aka Prop 8).

SAJA Forum

Queer Muslims in Chicago! This Saturday...

Poets/writers/activists sarwat rumi & imi rashid have teamed up with Insight Arts to co-found "Akabaka Productions." Akababa Productions will host programs for queer women and genderqueer people of color at the Center for New Possibilities in Rogers Park. "Akabaka" is Bengali for "zig-zag" and is the term sarwat and imi have chosen to describe queer people. The first programming event "akabaka salaams" is geared towards building awarness and community for queer Muslim women of color. There will be a film screening, and in the words of imi, it will be

"followed by a discussion on how to build trust and awareness in the midst of rampant homophobia within the Muslim community. We [sarwat and imi] don't know of too many queer Muslims ourselves, and so we're hoping that this event, and the ones that follow, will hold a safe space and supportive environment for those who need it."

Light Snacks Provided!!
July 19th, 4-6pm, 1505 W. Morse Ave next door to the Common Cup
Event is FREE!

Weekly Mix Masala

List of religions & their positions on homosexuality (doesn't include Sikhism though!)
SignOnSanDiego.com

Another list - this one an English language South Asian LGBT bibliography
Columbia University

"Homosexuals seek social networking sites support"...whoa oh oh! We were totally the first on this trend - check us out on facebook
Zee News

Tale of an Indian Lesbian (fiction)
SAMAR Magazine

There are 9 countries that have the maximum death sentence for same-sex relations; Pakistan and Iran are 2 of them. There are 10 countries that have the maximum sentence for life imprisonment for same-sex relations; India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, and Nepal (hopefully that will change soon) are 4 of them - the other 6 have large South Asian populations.
Pink News

Scroll down to watch the documentary Voices from Nepal, where Scott Long of HRC records stories of LGBT people working for change in Nepal
In The Life

Kinda like the pharmacists who refuse to give birth control, a registrar in UK refuses to conduct civil partnerships
Islington Tribune

First Generation Kids: Rejoice?

You know you're movin' on up when your demographic is covered by Salon.com. In light of the California Supreme Court decision to allow gay marriage, Sandip Roy discusses, albeit, tongue-in-cheek, of the possible scenes that may take place in immigrant families. Traditional Hindu ceremonies, with an "untraditional" couple. Arranged marriages, boy looking for boy (In fact, the last paragraph of his article echoes an earlier queeristan post). Since he focuses on the intense pressure for marriage in immigrant communities, particular Asian ones, his outlook for the future is generally sunny. With one and four Californians being immigrants, he suggests that it's the immigrant community that gave the final push for acceptance of gay marriage, because immigrant parents are tired of waiting around for their gay sons and daughters to get married. But has the immigrant community really turned a social corner? It wasn't too long ago that Satender Singh (a Fijian immigrant himself) was beaten to death in Sacramento by two Russian-speaking men. It’s largely believed to be a hate crime and Singh's death has become a symbol for the increasing amount of friction between the Sacramento gay community and socially conservative immigrants. So are our parent's generation and newly minted immigrants really comfortable with homosexuality? Or is it the majority, 3 out of 4 non-immigrants, that give California its gay-friendly reputation? In any case, it appears that at least the California Sikh and Muslim communities appear to be liberal as they were one of the first to release condemnations of Singh's beating. But I don’t live in California or Massachusetts. Desis living out there – what do you think?

Welcome to the Club, California!

Queeristanis, we are back! We are celebrating with some great news coming out of the Golden State!

California's Supreme Court has deemed a state law banning same-sex marriage unconstitutional. The court was split 4-3, favoring gay rights activists who saw the marriage ban in 2000 as discriminatory. California previously granted same-sex couples civil unions, similar to those in New Jersey and Vermont. The ruling will allow men and women to marry in less than a month.

However, it's not all peaches and sunshine. Although the ban has been lifted, it may be reinstated later via a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November. Religious and conservative groups have called the courts decision an "outrage" and an "example to judicial tyranny." Several organizations have already began to mobilize campaigns to bring this issue to a public vote.

The ruling is sure to spark this controversal issue once again. All three presidential hopefuls have been pretty tight lipped, McCain being the only one who opening disagree with the court's decision. Let's hope it doesn't create the same decisive atmosphere of 2004.

California lifts gay marriage ban

Weekly Mix Masala

• Trikone's Kulture Kulcha 2008. Tonight, Friday May 2nd! Trikone, San Fransisco
• Ethnography Gone Wild: a review of Parmesh Sahani's Gay Bombay Tehelka
• LGBT film festival, Boston. Screening several South Asian films, including A Jihad for Love
• Parvez Sharma, of A Jihad for Love, blogs about his journey as he screens the film globally Director's Blog
• A review of gay, Hindu, hip-hopper D'Lo and Ramble-Ations:A One D'Lo Show Asian American Press
• Irshad Manji vs. Ayaan Hirsi NYTimes, Jezebel
• A story covering the journey of a couple as a the husband transitions to female NYTimes
• And a debate whether it really is a sign of a good marriage that the couple is still together Jezebel
• Meanwhile, a prize racehorse refuses to mate with the ladies. Maybe he's just gay? NYTimes
• Young gay marriages in the US (well, Massachusetts at least ) NYTimes (Is it like LGBT month at the Times or something?)
• Andrew Sullivan + Obama's approach to the American LGBT movement The Daily Dish
• A symposium cancelled due to concerns from psychiatrists & activists that ex-gay's views would be propogated and considered healthy Queerty

Law and Order: Special Queer Unit

There must have been something unusual in the air the past few weeks. One sniff and all the crazies came out to play! In an alarming trend, queer desis made headlines all over the world- mostly bad news, I'm afraid.

Let's start with the least offensive. Akash Maharaj, an (ex-)Yale student, was found to have forged his Columbia University transcript (giving himself straight A's), letters of recommendation, and financial aid forms (hey, might as well make some money out of it, right?). So, how was he caught? This is the interesting part: threatened by Maharaj, his ex-gay lover, Victor Cazeres, contacted Yale authorities. Cazares happened to reveal to the police that Maharaj was older than he had stated on his application. This red flag propelled an investigation into Maharaj's file which uncovered the many more falsifications. Our advice to Maharaj- next time you want to lie on your applications, don't change your age just so you can get with younger guys.

Moving onto another college story. At a university in Punjab, 25-year old Inderpal Singh committed suicide by hanging himself to a ceiling fan. In his suicide note was a description of the suffering that he had endured throughout the prior year. This next part could seriously be straight out of a scene from a flick like Cruel Intentions. One night while intoxicated, Singh found himself having sex with fellow male classmates. The sexual encounter was videotaped by none other than a PROFESSOR of the university! Blackmail followed the encounter, where...nope, the classmates did not stop at just asking for money, but also forced Singh to be their sexual slave. A year later, when Singh finally refused, copies of the video were dispersed, and Singh found himself unable to cope. Our advice - if you're into authoritarianism, stick to reading sexual stories about it rather than acting it out in real life.

Alright, last but not least. In the state of Gujarat, 18-year-old Kalpesh Patel was arrested for the murder of an older man, Mohan Patel (no relation!). According to Kalpesh, Mohan had made advances towards him, which he refused. When Mohan became more aggressive, Kalpesh took a nearby rock and smashed it into Kalpesh's head until he was dead. Now, the kicker: Mohan was married, had children, and was definitely not openly queer. Now we know that there are many MSM's in India, who have relations with men outside from their traditional families, but was Mohan one of them? Could Kalpesh have had another reason to murder Mohan? And if so, claiming that Mohan was trying to elicit a homosexual act would be a brilliant move in trying to gain the government's empathy. Our advice to you - carry some pepperspray, it's a dangerous world out there...


Yale student is accused of lying on his application

Sexually abused, youth hangs self

"Gay" murder in India

Impromptu Chicago Meet-Up

Haii friennnnzzz! For those of you who are in Chicago, we'll be meeting up for some bar-hopping tonight in the Boystown area. For once in a blue moon all the writers are together in one city, so if you're absolutely dying to meet any of us (no stalkers please), come join! And if you just want to chill with some queer desis (no adoration of the writers required), come along too. We'll be starting out around

10pm at Sidetrack: 3349 North Halsted Street, Chicago IL 60657.

A gay and lesbian video bar of course! We're bar-hopping so be on time - none of this desi standard time/queer standard time shiz-viz.


image by Miss Loisy

Engendered Species

New Yorkers mark you calendars! Engendered, a South Asian multi-disciplinary arts festival, will be held in Lincoln Center April 18-20. The three-day event focuses on gender, sexuality, ritual, and religion in the context of South Asia.

Engendered includes panel discussions with prominent writers and activists contributing to the emerging South Asian queer identity. Over thirty performing artists will be showcasing pieces that revolve around the notion of gender. Last but not least, Mira Nair, Priya Sen, and Harjant Gill are only a few of the many filmmakers whose works will be screened during the festival.

Engendered is presented by Nayikas, New York's first Odissi Dance Company, in partnership with the Indo-American Arts Council.

Check out the festival program; so many thought-provoking sections, so little time! The deadline for purchasing an all-festival pass has expired, but tickets for individual programs are still on sale. Student rates are available!

Engendered: Gender, Sexuality, Ritual, & Religion

Weekly Mix Masala

The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina), a gay-themed spoof of Bollywood, finally gets a debut in India four years late, after being banned by critics
Solaris Pictures

Happy Hookers -- Documentarian Ashish Sawhny trails three men who moonlight as part-time sex workers in Mumbai, India.
FILMOUT: What not to miss

Pregnant Man Thomas Beatie Appears on Oprah. Click for clip of show.
Jezebel

McCain, Clinton, & Obama call on UK to stop deportation of gay Iranians
CNBC

Anti-homophobia books removed from schools at the request of Muslim parents
UK's The Telegraph

A queer woman harshly criticizes India from an outsider's point of view
GenerationQ

A rally for Sally Kern, who made the statement that "the homosexual agenda is destroying the [US] nation," draws more than 1,000 supporters
NewsOK.com

A member of the new group, The World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists, urges Muslims to donate towards HIV/AIDS causes. "[Although] ıt is associated wıth sexual promıscuıty and the gay lifestyle, which are anathema to Islam, the needs of AIDS victims in sub-Saharan Afrıca are too great to ignore."
Philanthropy.com

Weekly Mix Masala

Sahran Abeysundara, a queer activist from Sri Lanka, is named as the third grand marshal in Vancouver's pride parade
Vancouver Courier

Can Singapore handle Rose?
The Electric

"My dream role is to play a prostitute" - Bobby Darling
NowRunning

On Bobby Darling's upcoming films: "I even have a kissing scene with a Pakistani actor in one of my movies and I felt nice doing the scene"
Now Running

Reviews on Indian paperbacks, including the Pregnant King and the newly translated Dance.
The Telegraph - Calcutta

Who says Bush is homophobic? (NSFW: Not Suitable for Work)
Fleshbot

Sacramento area gays face increasing tension from influx of the growing evangelical Slavic community
LA Times

Fitna, the controversial short-film by Geert Wilders, has been released. No, we are not going to post the video, nor are we providing a link.

Weekly Mix Masala

Snehithan: social & support group for GBTTQQ of the Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhala, Tamil, and Telegu speaking communities.
snehithan.ca

Dosti: a Toronto based site for desi men who have or want sex with men. Browse to meet others and keep abreast of the latest news with Munnibai, the safer-sex queen.
dosti.ca

Blue Diamond Society of Nepal receives international recognition for their LGBT Human Rights work
International Gay and Human Rights Commission

Pregnant Transmale! Guess men can get pregnant
Jezebel

Review of Kari, a graphic novel about a lesbian copywriter in Mumbai
Newsindpress

Candlelight vigil in Kolkata for three members of the transgender community and the community explores the connection between the hijra and transsexual community
Express India

Martin Manalansan, an anthropologist specializing in South Asian diaspora studies, belongs to growing cohort of scholars that have recently moved "queer critique" aggressively into the domain of critical race theory
Brooklyn Blues Blog

Bipasha on Begum Nawazish's fawning over John: "Compliments for John are always welcome. Whether the compliments are from a lady, a man or from a gay person"
Times of India

Namaste: Building the South Asian GLBT community locally with KhushDC
MetroWeekly

The Whole World is Listening

Sally Kern refuses to apologize for her homophobic comments, despite receiving thousands of critical emails. Good for you, Kern! They're probably just part of the big fat fruity conspiracy you've been warning everyone about. Those damn gay terrorists...err gayorrists...



Sally Kern's comments are gaining media coverage for their vitriol, but sadly, no one has pointed out her equation of Islam with terrorism. But you know, what do you expect in a land where Homeland Security thinks battered women are potential terrorists?

P.S. Sally - it's called "P.C." for a reason. You are in the game of politics, I assume?