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

Prince Charming?

Gujarati Indian Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil has no qualms about being on television. After countless news interviews (including one with Oprah!), the Prince has given in to the lure of reality television! Premiering on Jan 15 on BBC, Prince Gohil will star in "Undercover Princes," a documentary where, hiding his true identity, he will travel gay bars in London to search for his true Prince Charming. Wishing you all the best Prince Gohil, but honesty, I'm not expecting much. Gay bars may not exactly be the best place to find someone to spend your life with. Maybe for hot, slutty, sex- yes, but life-long bliss? I'd suggest a garba- they're always jam-packed with gay Gujju men.

Gay Indian Prince seeks British soulmate

------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: Check out BBC's interview with Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil and a sneak peek at his television show!

The Undercover Princes

Weekly Mix Masala

Condom ringtone, ads push sales in India! Listen to it HERE.
Yahoo! News

In Bangalore, two hijras held for abducting a 16 year old boy and forcing him to change his sex.
The Hindu

Also in Bangalore, police kick Hijras out of their homes in an act of "social cleansing"
Human Rights Watch

Dostana Reviews- what do YOU think??
Rediff India Abroad
Articles Base

“Why should homosexuals be looked down upon or singled out? It’s an individual’s take, as to how he or she would like to live their lives. That’s why I love the fashion industry. It’s the only industry that doesn’t discriminate, and encourages talent, whether you’re straight or gay!”
- Priyanka Chopra, from the film Dostana
News Network

Pakistan included in the world's top 10 countries with the most internet censorship! I guess that means no Queeristan for you guys :(
Techachino

Banning of Israeli same-sex couples from adopting or having a surrogate mother leads couples to find answers in India!
Outlook India

Open up your eyes, India! Kinsey-like report reveals Indian sexual practices
India Today

The Intervention - What's every Desi girl's secret? Gay porn, of course.

New Queer Desi Channel on YouTube

A while back, we told you about IndusGay, gay dating site aimed at the South Asian community. Well now the creators of the site have begun their very own YouTube channel. Check it out!

Go ahead and subscribe, be sure to send some comments/suggestions their way! Below is a piece centered on the SF AIDS Walk:

Do we all want to get down with the brown?

In our latest poll, we wanted to see how color blind queer desis are when it comes to our love lives. The results are are worth discussing. The bulk of voters fell in two categories, those who consider themselves completely colorblind and those who are generally colorblind, yet prefer dating South Asians.

It's refreshing to see that so many people don't discriminate; racism in the gay world is a whole other can of worms. What is interesting is that so many of us prefer dating within our own community. However, we are forced to ask ourselves, it this trend really surprising?

Queer or straight, many of us grew up with mothers, fathers, aunties, and uncles all bombarding us with the same command -- to marry someone in our community. Interracial coupling is still largely stigmatized by South Asians, saved often for kitchen gossip. It should be no surprise that we too internalize the racial standards our families expect of our partners. And while ten years ago, you'd be hard pressed to find one queer desi to date, today there are growing networks of us. Some can argue that by dating other queer desis, we are satisfying both our gay and South Asian communities.

Does bringing home a brown partner cushion the blow to our parents? Is mother more likely to accept your girlfriend is she understands Hindi and enjoys chole pathura? In the South Asian community, where parental acceptance is often key, can race trump sexuality? We'd love to hear what you think.

Voices from the Community: Tall, Dark, and Handsome? Really?

Tall, Dark, and Handsome.
This sentence fragment has been stated so often it's now a cliché for the guy we all want. Apparently.
I don't really get it. I'm dark (naturally because I'm Indian) and handsome (again, naturally because I'm Indian); but does height really play a factor in those who find me attractive?

It's not that it was my choice to be short, you know. My parents have both succumb to the South Indian short gene. I was bound to be a shorter male.

Standing at 5'6", I always thought I was a comfortable height. I can reach for things on the shelf – mind you it's the lowest shelf but gosh darn-it it's still a shelf! I'm tall enough to not be considered a little person like the Roloffs and can get on most rides when the carnival comes to town.

But have you ever notice how regardless of our carnival-permitted heights, us short people don't earn the attention we would like?
I always found that I get the term 'cute' or 'adorable'. True, these are fantastic words, but where is those words tall guys get like 'hot' and 'rugged' and 'manly'.
When was the last time you've heard of a short man being 'manly'?
My point exactly.

According to recent statistics that I didn't make up, both men and women find that short people work harder at attracting others to prove themselves due to their 'physical handicap of being short'.
It's hard enough being Indian in the bar scene's racial hierarchy, and now I have to 'prove' myself because I'm short! Aah!

So where do us short men go? What do we do?
Do we wear elevator shoes?
Do we take hormone-injections approved by the government to get a few inches taller?
Do we work extremely hard so our achievements make up for our lack of height?

If there was a clear-cut answer, I'd like to hear it.
In lieu of it, I like to think of the positive side of being short:
We short men are said to be more reliable and depended upon.
We short men are more approachable.
We short men can buy clothes in the boys section and not be taxed (in Canada).
We short men are hugged more.
Mmm. Hugs.

We can pride ourselves with the famous short men that have walked among us:
Danny DeVito - Mark Wahlberg - Jason Alexander - Muggsy Bogues - Alfonso Ribeiro

They've turned out ok, eh?
No need for elevator shoes.
No need for injections.
No need to be an over-achiever (although if you're South Asian, it's either in your blood or you're pressured to do so).

To answer my first question – does height really play a factor in those who find me attractive – I hope it doesn't. I'm sure it doesn't.

I'm Indian; therefore I am handsome, charming, and witty.
I can tell a good prawn curry from a bad one, and will not be afraid to let you know about it. (And will furthermore judge you if you indeed produce a bad prawn curry).
I can go to the grocery store and calculate the inflation and tax on bananas in my head while at the check-out.
I'm a catch!

Therefore height doesn't really play a factor. It's all a state of mind.

The next time you hear a guy say they want someone Tall, Dark, and Handsome, they might be a little confused. Who knows? Perhaps what they really need is some S&M: Short and Male.

Weekly Mix Masala

The eighth lesbian suicide in Tamil Nadu as of 2008
merinews

Hey fellow Canadians - we should have covered this earlier for you guys: Sher Vancouver, a Sikh LGBT group
BCLocalNews

In the UK, women win the right to children without fathers
UK Times Online

South Asian parents speak up: "We'd rather you were gay with kids."
Salon.com

And the gay pick for the hottest IPL player is...
Mid-Day

Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Film Festival starting...yesterday! Screening The World Unseen with Lisa Ray & Sheetal Sheth
courant.com

Another gay film festival, this one in Florida and in early June.
TampaBay

The murder trial of Satender Singh, the gay Fijian killed last year in California, wraps up
Hate Crimes Bill

Sigh. Is this just a conservative attack on British Indians or a real case of sex-selection spreading to the UK?
TimesOnline

The Red Ribbon Express, touted as the world’s biggest mass blitz for HIV prevention, enters Tamil Nadu.
The Hindu

Who knew Bhutan was so... penis friendly?

Weekly Mix Masala

Its hard our there for a prince -- an interview with Manvendra Singh Gohil
Out.com

New York Times review of A Jihad for Love
NYTimes

Online Survey: Who's the gay pick for the hottest in the IPL?
Questionnaire

Sizzling Pakistani model, Emmad Irfani, featured on Queerty's 'Morning Goods'
Queerty

Gov't divided over law governing gays -- Naz Foundation's case garners press attention
NDTV

Tragic end for lesbian couple tormented by family pressure
PinkNews
EDGE Boston

UK grants Mehdi Kazemi asylum
CNN
Queerty

South Asian Bar Associaton of Northern California lauds California judgement on marriage
IndiaPost.com

Indian men may claim to have a healthy sex-life, but a new international survey claims that orgasm often eludes them.
NDTV

MAP raises awareness of HIV/AIDS in API community -- a look at being South Asian, gay, and HIV+
Bay Windows

Out in India: A Family's Journey will be showcased at the 2008 SF International Film Festival
Bay Area Reporter

Gambia President announces that gay men and women must leave the country in 24 hours
Gays Without Borders

Props to fellow bloggers pass the roti on the left hand side and Sepiamutiny for their posts on Section 377

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

Voices From the Community: Inter/Intra-racial dating

Inter/Intra racial dating!

So today was one of those self-reflections days for me. I thought about everyone i dated and realized that everyone taught me a valuable lesson in life, whether they really wanted to or not. There are certain words that I can never erase from my memory, and I think they are meant to be that way because they truly opened my eyes to life.

And then i thought about culture. Its weird how you experience culture by being with someone of a different ethnicity. Its almost like you are part of a totally different atmosphere. Half of the time I didn't know what to do. The other half I was just trying to figure out what they were talking about. And i learnt that in order to date a mexican in california, you really got to know spanish. I think it will make life so much easier....

The weird thing about my life is that I went through phases. It started out with the "white phase" and then went into the "asian phase" and then to the "mexican phase", and to the "black phase" and now i am in the "indian phase". And i never even planned it out like that either...

But now that i am in my "indian phase" i realize how i have underestimated the power of cultural connection in a relationship. I am so used to giving a one hour explanation for every lil thing that i do or say. However, finding other brown gays and talkin to them, there is this extraordinarily amazing connection. Its like we have known each other for a lifetime and more.

Yet all in all, i think a good solid relationships still boils down to the person than his or her race. But I realize that maybe a lil cultural similarity can't do no harm.

-Jerome Atputhasingam
California, USA

Punjabi girl, 25, 5'6", slim, seeks alliance with well educated, fair, Punjabi bride

Gay or straight, Shaadi.com has been become a household URL in recent years for the South Asian community. More and more families are beginning to entrust the Internet with the duties of a matchmaker. To no one's surprise, these matrimonial doors remain shut for a great majority of the queer community.

Recently, however, there have been some rumblings on this front. The"no gays allowed" attitude of Shaadi.com has been challenged (via a hilarious repartee) by a writer of Desiclub.com. While no real resolution was made in the end, this all makes one think of the matchmaking opportunities out there for South Asian queers.

In a culture where marriage and unions between families are so highly regarded, it is naive to think gay South Asians would not adopt similar values. So what exactly is out there for us? Where do we go when we've exhausted Craigslist, Manhunt, Lesbotronic, & Gay.com? Where do we go to find a nice South Asian queer to bring home to Maa?

Well, you got a few options. While a matrimonial site aimed at our community may be a while a way, you can check out some new gay dating sites just for South Asians. Unfortunately, most of these sites are heavily saturated with men; but women & trans seekers, don't be discouraged, more are joining day by day.

Indus Gay -- easy format, fast growing, inclusive of men, women, & trans. but after a month, you have to pay to view profiles
Gay Date -- a little more racy than Indusgay, but only for men
GayDia -- cute site, nice format, but not trans inclusive

If you know of any more, help a brother/sister out and let us know!