Poem - Being Punjabi and Coming out Gay

My next chapter

I truly came into my own in London. I had a genuine sense of self. I started drinking, going out and making friends. I was making up for all the socialising I’d missed out on at university. Relationships were hit and miss, but that’s another story. I had a great time and to some extent I was promiscuous. This wasn’t intentional, just the result of years of pent-up frustration.

Looking for a ‘cure’ in India

When dad found out, it wasn’t hysterics or fireworks, just a slow numb disappointment. I mistakenly thought that he was taking it well. The reality was that he didn’t fully understand it either.

University and coming out to my mum

Being alone in a new place and not being able to form new relationships was difficult for me, but I didn’t complain. I just became stoic. I got my place through clearing so that meant I had no official place to stay. My first year was spent sharing with three boys - and I began to realise how very different I was from them.

Growing up Gay and Punjabi

As with most things, this story starts with sex - or at least me having some awareness of it. Sexual maturity usually comes with puberty, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t know or understand attraction from an earlier age.

A poem, called ‘Perfect You’ by Ritka Kanapareddy.

DJ•POET•SINGER•RAPPER•ICON•CURIOSITY•PUNJABI• 80 YEAR OLD GRANDMA• AND MY NAME IS ANCHHAL BAWA•

Although I don’t identify as LGBTQ I have had experiences of feeling like an outsider in my own community.

Marginal Margerine aka That Queer Shit

“I believe more needs to be done to show that you can still have faith and still have love for your faith. Disownment isn’t down to religion it’s down to a person’s backward view.”

“I believe more needs to be done to show that you can still have faith and still have love for your faith. Disownment isn’t down to religion it’s down to a person’s backward view.”

“I believe more needs to be done to show that you can still have faith and still have love for your faith. Disownment isn’t down to religion it’s down to a person’s backward view.”

One night my best mate and I were out in a club and when we were both very drunk, she point blank asked me to my face if I was gay. We sat and spoke about it the next day and I sat there lying through my teeth telling her I wasn’t.

“I believe more needs to be done to show that you can still have faith and still have love for your faith. Disownment isn’t down to religion it’s down to a person’s backward view.”

Aleesha is an Illustrator and Printmaker from London. She creates work on a freelance basis for clients such as Google, The Barbican Centre and The LA Times.

“When I came out again in college, I was met with shocked reactions. People couldn’t understand I was both Indian and gay, and to this day this has become something I am met with often. It’s like my identity is a really difficult puzzle, the pieces just don’t match. Indian and gay? People can’t put two and two together. In all honesty, at first, neither could I.”

My name is Kabir Singh. I am Sikh Punjabi and am heavily inspired by our core values of gender equality and the abolition of oppressive systems (such as the caste system and modern governments).