Oral History Interview with Rangoli
Anish, Deepshikha and Satvika are co-founders of Rangoli, an LGBTQ+ South Asian group based in Pittsburgh, and editors of Mirrors, an LGBTQ+ South Asian anthology. They describe their personal histories individually followed by a discussion on how their involvement with Mirrors and Rangoli.
Urooj Arshad Oral History Interview
Urooj Arshad is a co-founder of the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity and the first LGBTQ+ Muslim Retreat. In the oral history, Urooj describes growing up in Pakistan and Illinois, finding LGBTQ south asian community during college, and ongoing activism to resist islamophobia and queerphobia.
Content warning: Abuse
Oral History Interview with Anjali R.
Anjali R. is the founder of Parivar, a trans and queer south asian space in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the oral history, Anjali describes growing up in India, exploring different permutations of gender expression while moving throughout the U.S. and Canada, and navigating transphobia within queer south asian spaces.
Content warning: Abuse
Oral History Interview with Bishakh Som
Bishakh Som is the author of the graphic novel Apsara Engine. In the oral history, Bishakh describes growing up in Ethiopia and New York, studying and practicing architecture, "hatching" as a trans person, and storytelling through illustration.
Oral History Interview with Mani Soma
Mani Soma performs as the drag artist KaMANI Sutra. In the oral history, Mani describes growing up in India, navigating a queer relationship as a teenager, helping to organize a flash mob at Osmania University, finding south asian LGBTQ community after immigrating to the DC area, and their experiences performing as a drag artist.
Content warning: Suicide
Oral History Interview with Marina
Marina describes her experiences growing up in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, immigrating to the U.S. with family, and navigating her sexuality as a bisexual muslim woman.
Content warning: Abuse
Oral History Interview with Alex
Alex is an Indo-Guyanese drag performer. In the oral history, Alex describes growing up in New York, navigating their Indo-Guyanese and Sicilian identities, their connection to multiple faith traditions, and their experiences as a drag performer at the intersection of these identities.
Oral History Interview with Alok Vaid-Menon
Alok Vaid-Menon is a gender non-conforming writer and performance artist. In their oral history, Alok describes growing up in College Station, TX, connecting with activists and artists during college in California and subsequently in New York, their experiences touring across the world as a performance artist, and their journey of navigating gender through poetry, activism and fashion.
Oral History Interview with Sanjay Chhugani
Sanjay Chhugani has been active in several LGBTQ, Asian and South Asian organizations including Trikone—LA, Satrang and several other groups in Southern California for over a decade. In his oral history, Sanjay describes growing up in Bombay, studying as a graduate student in Chicago, and later finding LGBTQ community in Michigan and Los Angeles.
