Freedom from archaic laws
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On the heels of the hugely successful Pride
parades in India, came the New Delhi High
Court verdict that fast forwarded the queer
rights movement in India miles ahead. The
struggle to read down S. 377 of the IPC and
the decriminalization of homosexuality,
crossed a major milestone with the powerful
verdict that was packed with progressive
sensibilities. Within minutes, facebook and
twitter was ablaze with the reactions and
reports from around the world. Trikonees
celebrated in Castro by distributing mithai
to surprised onlookers. Within days of this
good news, came the Pakistan Supreme Court's
decision to grant equal rights to
transgenders. One can only hope that
progress is contageous and the pandemic
spreads all the way to California.
In other news, we have 2 new board members.
Manoj M. has joined the board as Director,
Outreach. Ray G. will hold the position of
Secretary/Treasurer. Sadly, 2 board members
also resigned due to personal reasons.
Chandra K. led the Outreach team and
initiated so many Outreach projects, and at
the same time, very efficiently managed the
IT aspects of Trikone, and many other
projects, and Poonam K. did a tremendous job
with leading the Fundraising team have left
the board. The Trikone board greatly
appreciates their hard work, leadership and
drive to enrich the community in so many
ways. Chandra and Poonam will will continue
to work in an advisory capacity and help
with Trikone projects. With these changes,
we still need 4 people to join the board. The application
form is
up on the Trikone website.
Act now!
Niralli and I have started working on
DesiQ2010. We need a couple of more people
to join the steering committee. If you're
interested, email Rakesh at rakesh@trikone.org.
Please note our new mailing address:
Trikone
P.O.Box 14475
San Francisco, CA 94114
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Looking back
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After partying hard during the month of
Pride, we took a break from the high voltage
dance events, to host a laid back, yet
classy celebration/fundraiser for the S. 377
verdict. It was meant to be a different kind
of event, at an outdoor wine bar, with wines
selected by a professional sommelier, and
rich hors d'ovres. While everyone who
attended the event loved the ambience, the
venue, the entire event, we were
disappointed that the community did not show
up in large numbers. We were unable to raise
any funds to send to India. Does our
community not feel the need to support
activism in South Asia? Or does our
community shy away from an event that is
different than the usual dance parties. We
welcome your feedback on what went wrong.
Why, in a community of at least a few
hundred people, only 30 or so showed up.
The LGBT panel titled "From Calcutta to
Castro" at the North American Bengali
conference in San Jose was a big success.
The panelists included past Trikone
co-chair, Krishnakali
(Roke) Chaudhuri and Misha Chowdhury.
You can listen to the audio and video
recordings of the session here.
Trikonees participated in the SF AIDS Walk
again this year. The weather was perfect for
a long walk in the beautiful Golden Gate
Park.
And finally, Women of Trikone supported and
some even acted in a very successful sold
out show of Yoni ki baat.
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Looking forward
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This month, we're back with a bunch of very
interesting events.Trikone will have a booth
at the Festival
of India held
in Fremont on August 15 and 16. Please come
and show your solidarity to the community,
as well as prove to the larger desi
community that we exisit, that we are as
normal or as crazy as anyone else and that
we need their suport to be treated with
equality and justice. The more visible and
vocal we are, the more easy it will be to
gain acceptance.
Trikone endorses "India's film festival of
Hope", an event by Asha for education, on
August 15. More details on Asha's
website.
Trikone co-chairs, Rakesh and Priti, and the
DesiQ2010 coordinator, Niralli, will
participate in the NQAPIA
conferencein Seattle from
Aug 14 to 16. The organizers expect a
turnout of approximately 400 people from
across the country. If any of you still want
to attend this conference, go to the NQAPIA
website to
register.
Now, if you're looking to have a fun time,
dancing to some awesome hip shakin', foot
tappin' desi, hip hop and old school high
energy bangin' beats, this is the party you
cannot miss! Its the NCLR dance party on AUg
22 at the Vibe Lounge in Oakland. Trikone
will benefit from this event, so come have a
gala time and show your support.
And finally, on Aug 29, we'll have a
long-time-in-the-planning, Chitchat
& Chai session,
with high profile Financial Advisor and past
Trikone co-chairperson, Dipti
Ghosh, on the topic of "Financial
Planning for the Queer Desi". This
is such an important topic, specially in the
current economic climate, that we all can
gain from her expertise on the subject.
We certainly hope to see you at some or
other event.
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Brickbats and bravos welcome!
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Thank you,
Rakesh Modi
Co-chairperson
Trikone
To contact us:
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