The details are:

- Date – 14th April 2012

- Time – 4pm onwards

- Location – Southall, West London

We shall be visiting the Gurdwara, followed by refreshments and dinner nearby in one of the many restaurants.

For more details, please call us on the Sarbat Helpline on the day of the Sarbat Social. The phone will be manned from 1pm on the day itself (i.e. Saturday 14th April)

Dear Mr Cameron,

Earlier this week, Lord Singh of Wimbledon made a number of comments in respect of same-sex marriages on the Today Programme on Radio 4. Lord Singh described the the consultation for same-sex marriages as being a “sideways assault on religion”, and he described that as being the view held by Sikhs generally. He also described the call for same-sex marriages as being an attempt by “a vocal secular minority to attack religion”.

We at Sarbat do not agree with those comments. Sarbat is the only social and support group for LGBT Sikhs in the UK, and we are also the one-stop resource for LGBT Sikhs around the world via our website www.sarbat.net. We are first and foremost Sikh and our sexuality is secondary to our Sikh identity, just as the sexuality of heterosexual Sikhs is secondary to their Sikh identity. Some of us are baptised Sikhs within the Khalsa tradition, whilst others are sehajdhari Sikhs, i.e. those Sikhs who have decided not to keep long hair. In other words, our membership is totally representative of the Sikh faith. The only things that set us apart from our heterosexual Sikh brothers and sister is our sexuality. We hold our beliefs truly and sincerely, and we do not see any reason why being gay should be a barrier to being Sikh or to being allowed to marry.

Sarbat was founded in 2007 as a means of promoting the rights of LGBT Sikhs in Britain and globally. We have published a leaflet about the compatibility of same-sex marriages within a Sikh context (http://sarbat.net/sikhism_and_same_sex_relationships.pdf), and we are fully supportive of the proposal for introducing same-sex marriages in England and Wales. We are also a pragmatic organisation. We are not asking for Parliament to force same-sex marriages to be sanctified in Sikh places of worship (Gurdwaras) as that would be a matter for the Sikh faith itself. What we are asking for is true equality in recognising our right to marriage.

The name ‘Sarbat’ is taken from the final couplet in the Ardas or the Sikh congregational prayer of supplication, where Sikhs pray for the happiness and goodwill of the whole of mankind. LGBT Sikhs form part of that mankind for whom prayers are given on a daily basis, and we do not consider ourself to be distinct from the Sikh faith solely because of our sexuality.

Sarbat trusts and believes that the Government and Parliament as a whole will pay heed to our views on this controversial topic and will take on board that the Sikh faith is not how Lord Singh has sought to portray it in his comments on Radio 4.

Lord Singh went on to say that he would be willing to bless “any other sort of relationship” as long as it is not a same-sex marriage. In that case, we call on Lord Singh to attend a civil partnership and give a Sikh blessing to it afterwards. We also call upon Lord Singh to tell us what the ‘Sikh’ blessing equivalent for a civil partnership would take, and we very much look forward to seeing Lord Singh march at World Pride on 7th July 2012 alongside our gay men and women members under the Sarbat banner.

Yours sincerely,

Sarbat

Sarbat is wholeheartedly in support of the proposal for true equality for gay men and women on the issue of marriage, and we have contributed our voice to the debate by participating in the consultation.

If you wish to add your voice to this issue, please visit https://www.homeofficesurveys.homeoffice.gov.uk/v.asp?i=48356xhlqw and complete the form.

We have also added our name to a letter which will be sent to MSPs in Scotland to bring about a similar change in legislation there.

Please also read our open letter to the Prime Minister and to Lord Singh of Wimbledon – http://www.sarbat.net/2012/03/open-letter-to-david-cameron-and-lord-singh-of-wimbledon/

If you would like to find out more about Sikhism and same-sex marriages, please read our leaflet – http://sarbat.net/sikhism_and_same_sex_relationships.pdf

- Time – 5.30pm onwards

- Venue – Basement of Costa Coffee, 39 Old Compton Street, London W1d 5JT

We shall be having dinner afterwards somewhere nearby.

Please join us if you can!

The Sarbat phoneline will be open from 1pm that afternoon, so you can find out where we are at any point that evening. Our telephone number is 07869 429610.

- Saturday 10th March (Soho)

- Saturday 14th April (Vaisakhi in West London)

- Saturday 23rd June (Vauxhall)

- Saturday 7th July (London Pride)

- Saturday 1st September (Brighton Pride) and Sunday 2nd September (London Mela)

Hope to see you all at some point over the coming months!

Here are the details:

- Date – Sunday 11th December

- Venue – Costa Coffee on Old Compton Street, W1D 5JX

- Time – 3pm to 4.30pm

If you wanr to meet us at the theatre instead, the details are:

- Venue – Arts Theatre London, Great Newport Street, WC2H 7JB

- Time – 5pm start

You can buy your tickets at:

http://www.lovetheatre.com/artstheatre/dates/2398/Ida-Barrs-Festive-Bingo

For more information about the show, visit http://www.artstheatrewestend.co.uk/category/shows/winter

Hope to see you then, and don’t forget the tinsel and mistletoe!

This week, I join my fellow Sikhs around the world in celebrating the birth of Guru Nanak, a mystic poet, saint and revolutionary who was born in Punjab in 1469 and went on to found our faith.

Our history tells us that when he was about 30 years old, Guru Nanak disappeared for three days while bathing in a river. When he emerged, he stated, Na koi Hindu, Na Koi Mussalman — There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim.

This provocative statement wasn’t intended to be a critique of Hinduism or Islam. As Sikh scholar Nikki Guninder Kaur states, “Guru Nanak was not making a value judgment about, nor refuting, the religious life of the Hindus and Muslims of his day. He was pointing to the oneness of the Transcendent that translates into the oneness and equality of humanity.”

Guru Nanak saw religious divisions and rigidity as obstacles to the Divine. South Asia at the time was under the rule of the Mughal Empire, which was often at odds with the Hindu population. He saw a society brimming with hypocrisy, intolerance, caste oppression and sexism, all in the name of God. Guru Nanak traveled around Asia and the Middle East engaging the people he met about questions of God, religion, injustice and love, while singing his devotional poetry, accompanied by a Muslim musician, Bhai Mardana.

Five hundred and forty-two years after his birth, Guru Nanak’s message is more important than ever, as we as human beings grapple with rampant discrimination in its many forms. We Sikhs pride ourselves on being champions of equality and justice, inspired by the legacy of Guru Nanak.

Earlier this year, I was quite disappointed when the World Sikh Council, a “representative and elected body of Sikh Gurdwaras [Sikh houses of worship] and institutions in the US,” joined with other faith-based institutions to essentially champion injustice instead of equality. The organization lobbied President Obama to uphold the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA), a federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and woman. After the Obama Administration took a principled stance against DOMA in February, the World Sikh Council went so far as to co-sign a letter of protest to House Speaker John Boehner denouncing his decision.

While I take issue with the state having a role in defining what is and isn’t a legitimate relationship in general (and one’s romantic relationship defining whether or not they have access to certain legal protections and social services), it is nevertheless disheartening to see a Sikh institution — representing the legacy of Guru Nanak — aligning itself with such reactionary and anti-gay ideology, when Sikhism itself is a freedom-seeking, loving, open-minded philosophy and way of life.

Ik Onkar are the first words (written by Guru Nanak himself) in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scriptures, and the center of what it means to be a Sikh: Oneness of the Divine, Oneness of the Divine’s creation, Oneness of humanity. Our Gurus and our ancestors put everything on the line to establish a world that is inclusive of all people, religions and ways of life — a world in which all people were equal.

The World Sikh Council appears, in this case, to be fighting for a world quite contrary to this vision. As I reflect on the fact that the Senate Judiciary Committee began debating the bill to repeal DOMA one week before Guru Nanak’s birthday, I find myself frustrated by the discriminatory actions of some who claim to speak for my community.

In some ways, the World Sikh Council reflects the homophobia I’ve witnessed in the Sikh community, which sometimes takes the form of someone saying, “This is not our issue,” as if to imply that all Sikhs are heterosexual or that we’re only concerned about some people’s oppression and suffering, but not all.

To the first point, sadly, just as in other religious communities, we have sometimes forced LGBT Sikhs to choose between their religion and their hearts. Clearly, this is not a dichotomy that should ever exist in Sikhism (or any religion for that matter).

To the second point, there’s an important concept in Sikhism called Sarbat da Bhala, which means working for the welfare and well-being of all people. This is a spiritual obligation for us Sikhs. We recite these words countless times, as they conclude one of the central Sikh prayers, Ardas (meaning “petition”).

Fortunately, many Sikhs are indeed embodying these words we say so often. A few months after the shooting and killing of two elderly Sikh men in Sacramento, Calif., in March, the Sacramento Sikh Temple offered a reward of $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator of a violent anti-gay hate attack in the same neighborhood. Twenty-six-year-old Seth Parker was punched in the face, suffering multiple facial fractures, while the attackers directed anti-gay slurs at him.

A spokesperson for the Gurdwara stated: “The Sikh Community condemns this disgusting attack motivated by ignorance and hate. In light of the recent murders of two Sikhs in Elk Grove and the hate crime conviction in Yolo County (of two men who attacked a Sikh taxi driver), we are especially sensitive to such crimes. We hope that our reward will help bring these criminals to justice.”

Now this is the kind of solidarity that is at the heart of what it means to be a Sikh.

Guru Nanak states: Jaano Jot Na Puucho, Jaati Aagai Jaat Na Hai — Recognize the Divine light within all, and do not consider social class or status; there are no classes or castes in the world hereafter.

The oppression of LGBT people is one of the most pervasive and accepted forms of subjugation today. Indeed, many individuals and institutions deem LGBT people a lower class or caste, justifying their discrimination with dogmatic rhetoric of what’s “natural,” “normal” and, in the case of the World Sikh Council’s letter to Speaker Boehner, what are true “American values.” This is no different than saying turbans are not truly American, so Sikhs should not be allowed to wear them in public. Oppression is oppression. Our struggles are intertwined.

Just as Guru Nanak said hundreds of years ago, “There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim,” perhaps today we can also say, “There is no straight, there is no gay.” Indeed, his message was ultimately that we are all One.

The details are:

- Date – Saturday 19th November 2011

- Time – 6pm to 6.30pm

- Meeting Point – Costa Coffee, 72 Uxbridge Road, London W12 8LP

We shall then move on to Shepherd’s Bush Gurdwara, possibly followed by a trip to the cinema or dinner at Westfields (depending on the general consensus).

Please join us to mark the occasion, and we look foward to seeing you there.

If you are unable to make it to the meeting point and wish to join us later in the evening, please feel free to call the Sarbat hotline (it will be switched on from 1pm on the day) – 07869 429610.

Gurpurb di lakh lakh vidai hovey.

- Saturday 19th November 2011 - Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Gurpurb meeting

- Sunday 11th December 2011 - Sarbat’s Christmas dinner

- Saturday 14th January 2012 - discussing Sarbat’s aims and objectives for 2012

Further information regarding times and locations will be posted on the website in the coming weeks.

As always, if you have any queries, please email us at info@sarbat.net

The details are as follows:

- Date – 9th October 2011

- Time – 3pm onwards

- Venue – basement of Costa Coffee, 39 Old Compton Street, Soho, London W1D 5JT

We shall be going for dinner at about 5.30pm, so please join us if you can. If you need to contact us on the day, please call us on 07869 429610 to find our location. The phone will be manned from 2pm onwards on the day. For further information, email us at info@sarbat.net.

Hope to see you all there!

Date – Sunday 4th September

Time – 2pm onwards, meeting at the Classical Stage

Venue – Gunnersbury Park, W3

If you are running late, or wish to join us later, please ring us on 07869 429610 to find our location. The phone will be manned from 1pm onwards on the day. For further information, email us at info@sarbat.net.

Hope to see you all there.

UK Black Pride is the biggest ethnic minority LGBT event in Europe.

For more information about the event, visit http://www.ukblackpride.org.uk/

Tickets are £11 each (£10 + £1 booking fee).

Please join us there for food, fun and (hopefully) sunshine!

- Time – 7pm

- Venue – Brunei Gallery, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG

- Meeting Point – Foyer to the Gallery

August’s Sarbat Social will be a trip to the first major exhibition on Sikhism for the last decade. The exhibition, GT1588, is a celebration of the history of the Golden Temple and includes rare and never-before-seen exhibits including some of the very first photographs of the Golden Temple.

The tour will start at 7pm sharp, so please be on time. We shall be having dinner nearby after the tour.

The exhibition will also look at the contributions made to the Golden Temple by Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and many others. As such, this Sarbat Social is open to everyone, Sikh and non-Sikh alike.

The exhibition closes on 25th September 2011, so if you cannot make it to the Sarbat Social this month, please feel free to visit GT1588 when you can. For more info about the exhibition, visit http://goldentemple1588.co​m/resource/exhibitions/

For more info, please email info@sarbat.net, or call 07869 429610

11th July 2011

There is the rose. The English rose.  It is beautiful, sensual and represents all that is elegant and fragrant of what a flower ought to be.  It is symbolic of a great nation.  It is seen and used by many as an emblem.  There are a number of varieties but the red rose is greatly favoured among others.

Now there are other flowers as well, which are equally sensual, tropical, beautiful, and bring great pleasure to many.  Some say only the rose can bring pleasure like no other flower.  But we have seen there are a variety of flowers, and when bunched together, they all look beautiful.

So are God’s creatures. We have the yellow skinned, black, brown, light brown, children, women, men, tall men, short men, fat men, fat women, tall women, heterosexuals, homosexuals, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims…  All beautiful in their own right, but when put in a bunch of others like flowers they are even more fragrant and beautiful.   When left alone because they are single parents, suffering, homosexuals, etc. Like flowers, they wonder and wither and waver and struggle alone.

Like flowers, our creator wanted us to be all together to learn and share, whatever the colour of our petals, because we are all His gracious creatures.  It is no use for the orchard to pretend and struggle to be like the rose, because then as a rose she would be the symbol of the nation, brought by millions on Valentines day and celebrated. The orchard may struggle and even try, but it would be no use as she will still be an orchard. However, the orchard is still beautiful, is still elegant and will be even more respected if she stays as an orchard to true to herself and her faith.

Why am I writing this when I am a happily married mother of two?  I have a few nephews, and I think one of them may be what others have described as ‘confused’.  I suspect he is bisexual or homosexual.  As a ‘massi’ I love him and want the best for him forever.  I want him to be true to himself  and  I cannot say this to him,  but I can write it, and write it for all the other nephews I have,  for I do not now distinguish between my worldly family and spiritual family as a Sikh.  Be true to yourself and do not destroy a girl’s life by trying to fit in to the pressures of society.   It is far better to live the life you want than to live for others and struggle with your own life.  Just imagine if, when Sikhs came to the UK decades ago, they lived the life of what English people wanted?  We would have no Sikh faith or Gurdwaras in the UK.  Have the same courage as those Sikhs.  In the end, God created the bunch of flowers, not a single red rose.  All his flowers are beautiful and precious to him.

Date – 2nd July 2011

Meeting Point – outside Great Portland Street tube between 11am and 11.30am

Dress code – Plain white/light coloured t-shirt or traditional top, jeans, pink dupatta, turquoise blue turban (the turban and dupatta materials will be provided by ourselves). Please note that the dress code is not mandatory, but the more people who are wearing matching outfits, the better we will look as a group and the more that we can show our unity in numbers.

The Parade participants shall have assembled at Portland Place by 12.30pm.

The Parade commences at the north end of Regent Street at 1.15pm, and it shall finish by 4pm at Northumberland Ave.

We will be handing out flyers and leaflets during the course of the Parade.

If you are running late, or can only join the Parade once it has started, please call Sarbat on 07869 429610 on the day of Pride and we will be able to tell you where to join us.

If you have any queries, please email us at pride@sarbat.net.

Together, we can show that we exist and that we are proud of our identity, Sikh and gay alike.

- Date – Saturday 18th June 2011

- Time – 1pm onwards

- Venue – Starbucks Coffee, 62 Uxbridge Road, Shepherd’s Bush, London, W12 8LP

We shall be discussing our preparations for London Pride 2011, as well as the recent discussion on the Sikh Channel about homosexuality and homophobia.

Hope to see you then.

Sarbat would like to commend the Sikh Channel for raising the issue. Whilst our views on the topic are perhaps obvious, we welcome any and all opportunities for discussions to take place in a respectful manner, even with individuals who believe that Sikhi does not or cannot condone or tolerate homosexuality.

We at Sarbat hope that there will be further opportunities to have such reasoned discussions.

We at Sarbat have had an impressive first 12 months of Sarbat Socials in London, and we want our success to be replicated all over the world, from Auckland to Amritsar. If you are interested in setting up Sarbat Socials in your own locality, please email us at info@sarbat.net for more information and assistance.

Waheguru di kirpa de naal, the next 12 months shall be just as momentous as the previous year.

The last 12 months of Sarbat Socials have been amazing, and it has been down to the support received from our members all around the world. We have had over 50 people attend our meetings since our inception, and we have managed to raise the profile of LGBT Sikhs as well as provide appropriate support to those in need.

In order to thank everyone for their ongoing involvement and support, we will be having a belated birthday party for Sarbat on 21st May 2011. Please make it if you can. Click here for more information.