Lesbian activist speaks to South Asia Society

Lesbian activist Svati Shah lead a discussion of homosexuality within the South Asian community before a group of around 45 University students in the High Rise East Rooftop Lounge yesterday. Shah started the forum by dispelling the myth that homosexuality "is an American thing," a misconception she said many South Asian immigrants to the United States believe. "Homosexuality is too often seen as a foreign concept," Shah said. "As a community we are so new to this country that, while preserving our own culture, we are trying so hard to assimilate that we aren't always accepting of differences." During the two hour forum, many audience members said they found homosexuality within South Asian community shocking and that they had never considered the possibility of gays and lesbians existing within South Asian culture until they learned of Shah's visit to the University. "This is the first time I've extended [the concept of homosexuality] to [South Asian] culture," College freshman Rupa Gupta said. "I've never met anyone who was South Asian and gay and willing to talk about it before." But Shah said that the concept that there is a difference between homosexuality and heterosexuality is a Western one. Distinctions between the two are not as great in South Asian societies, she added. "Americans deal with homosexuality from a vehement moralistic standpoint, but I don't think that this is the case in the South Asian community," Shah said. She added that same-sex relationships were not unusual in South Asian culture, and cited homoerotic art that was destroyed when the British invaded India as historical evidence of the presence of homosexuality within South Asian culture. Shah talked about what she and audience members said was a great deal of homophobia within South Asian societies in America, and spoke bitterly of her own experience of "coming out" at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Shah said that when she "came out" her family was supportive, but "not necessarily as supportive as I would have liked." She added that none of her South Asian peers continued to associate with her. "I don't think that the South Asian community creates very much safe space for gays and lesbians to come out," Shah said. "I think there is much more support among white American culture in general for gays and lesbians." Many audience members agreed, relating stories of South Asians who had "come out of the closet" and been disowned by their families. But Shah said that, when "put to the test, our families will invariably surprise us." After the discussion many said they were happy with the turnout and felt that the forum had helped increase understanding of homosexuality within the University's South Asian community. "I think South Asians in general are very intolerant of homosexuality in any form," College senior Anup Singh said. "The fact that so many of us showed up tonight is evidence that we want to find out more about homosexuality." Jason Walthall, Co-chair of the Lesbian Gay Bi-Sexual Alliance, which co-sponsored the forum with the South Asian Society, said he thought the discussion was an important way of "disseminating information" about homosexuality. "I think it is very important for this type of discussion to take place, especially within minority groups because they really get hit with the double whammy [of being both homosexual and a racial minority]," Walthall said. LGBA Board member Jerry Dames agreed with Walthall and said that from the type of questions asked it was an important step in dealing with the issue of homosexuality in minority groups. Shah, who currently works for an AIDS hotline, said that she was "impressed" with the turnout at the forum and said she thought it was important step in ending homophobia within the South Asian community. No H&J; required. Do not bother inserting ! -- Michael ' Homosexuality is too often seen as a foreign concept. As a community we are so new to this country that, while preserving our own culture, we are trying so hard to assimilate that we aren't always accepting of differences. ' Svati Shah Lesbian activist