Sarbat LGBT SikhsSee below for a complete schedule of our ongoing series of #SarbatSocials, Panel events and #OpenMinds (where available). If interested, please sign up using the event links in the newsletter or on social media. The online meetings typically last 1 hour – 1 hour 15 minutes and are facilitated by Sarbat volunteers. We hope to […]
LGBT History Month has been a busy month for Sarbat, with so many embracing the ‘Mind, Body and Spirit’ theme. The Sarbat Socials this month took on a new twist to fit in with the theme, starting with a social focused on connecting spiritually through sangat recitation of Japji Sahib, Chaupai Sahib and blissful kirtan […]
On 9th January 2021, we held our first #SarbatSocial with a discussion on the Farmer Protests in India. Sarbat were lucky to have a special guest, Navyug Gill a Professor of History and Specialist in Agrarian Studies, join us to provide an understanding of the history and context of the agricultural sector in Punjab, Haryana and wider […]
This has been a long year. We’re convinced that 2020 had more than just 12 months.
Sat Sri Akal Hello and thanks for joining our SarbatSocial for today. My name is Dharam and I am being supported by Makinder and many other sarbat volunteers for what is being billed as a great discussion event finale to 2020 – what a year ! I thank you all for taking the time out […]
Deva Hardeep Singh from Okemah, OK gives their take on our latest #SarbatReads … Five global Sarbat members crisscrossed the Atlantic Ocean via Zoom to discuss Toni Morrison’s book Saturday, November 21. It was a lively discussion about the angry story of an African American girl growing up in Ohio in the late 1940s. Morrison […]
Sat Sri Akal Against the backdrop of a pandemic, Black Lives Matter became a global rallying cry sparked by systemic and structural racism and violence against all black people. Sarbat recognises: the personal, structural and systemic racism, in particular colourism that exists within our communities; the inequities that stem from colonial legacies; Throughout Sikh history, […]
National Coming Out Day and International Mental Health Day It was great to be joined by representatives from across South Asian LGBTQ+ groups as we discussed the concept of Coming Out and what it means to us. Panellists: Pavan Joshi – From India, came from Rajasthan in 2004 – dancer, writer, blogger, mental health specialist […]
Sarbat has released several statements on the Sikh perspective on equal marriage for people of all gender identities and sexual orientation since 2007 1,2,3. In light of recent developments and renewed interest in the topic 4,5,6, we would like to further reiterate our position. Everything we do or say is keeping in with our core […]
Dharam reviews the FX drama living the 1980s New York gender-nonconforming ball scene featuring Billy Porter, Mj Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson among others. Co-created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Steven Canals, Pose is radical in concept but brazenly square in execution, affirming universal feelings, values, and aspirations that are common to film genres that inspired […]
Sat Sri Akal – Hello and thanks for joining our SarbatSocial for today. My name is Dharam and I am being supported by Makinder – Thank you very much Makinder. Today is a day for an uncomfortable conversation – it is not easy but needs to be had. The topic for today is very wide […]
Sarbat Reads, the book club that focuses on Sikh and LGBT+ issues powered by sarbat.net, read My Magical Palace by Kunal Mukherjee in the month of August 2020. Here’s a short review based on the discussion we had: My Magical Palace by Kunal Mukherjee takes you along on an exciting journey in the 70’s India […]
We may not have the much needed air conditioner that we all need a few summer weeks every year in the UK but we have a insightful talk about an interesting person we all know a bit about and also of an empire formed under his leadership. We are humbled to have fantastic allies such […]
Simrat (an alias) shares his reflections on Sarbat and the need for online communities Hello everyone and welcome to my article. My name is Simrat and I am a 19 year old boy, and here is my story. I realised from the age of about 15 that I wasn’t straight, but I think at that […]
Open Minds April 2020 – Community during lockdown It was great to see a mixture of longstanding and newer members at June’s online Open Minds meeting last week. We talked about the word ‘community’ and how our sense of community has been affected by the lockdown. We took advantage of Zoom’s new breakout room function and people […]
Raj Kaur, writer and editor of Reviews by Sarbat. It is fair to say that RuPaul’s Drag Race has become somewhat of a phenomenon in recent years and has accumulated a mass following from the LGBTQIA+ network. The show recently wrapped up season 12 and has had multiple spin offs from its inception in 2009 […]
A heartfelt thanks to those who joined us on 28th May and shared their observations and reflections about Sikhi faith and culture. The conversations were inspired by the experiences of a few Sarbat members who are enrolled in the Harvard online course “Sikhism through the scriptures” (scroll down for more info on this). We navigated many difficult topics with passion […]
Raj Kaur, writer and editor of Reviews by Sarbat. The L Word: Generation Q is the long-awaited sequel to The L Word series which aired from 2004 to 2009. The L Word enjoyed 6 successful seasons and was often commented to be ahead of its time; it was one of the first (Will and Grace […]