Safe Space response

"Okay, people.  Let's focus...The white-dominated gay mainstream doesn't understand our rich culture.  Straight South Asians think we're making them look bad.  We are minorities wherever we go."

I feel that I would like to work to achieve more solidarity within the API queer community, but Safe Space shows the complications in which this could not happen.  There are many disparities within the queer community, let alone the API community, so I think working at this could prove to be very difficult.  I admire the character of Safe Space, Vikram, for attempting to start a support group for queer South Asians, because he can self identify with these two identities, but the script definitely shows what kind of attitude is needed for creating this "safe space" he is trying to achieve.

I was in a club similar to this one portrayed in Safe Space.  It was called APIQ, or Asian Pacific Islander Queers.  Though it was not exclusive to only the API queer community, many people perceived the club as such.  Being part of this club, I have seem many people discouraged to be involved with the mission and goal statements of the club because of the name or those that represent the club.  As for Vikram, his mission and goal for GAYWAD was very concrete and could have definitely serve useful, but Vikram was the only one to represent this group.  With his outspoken and forward personality, Vikram by himself was not able to sustain the group and keep solidarity within the different peoples willing to come out to the single GAYWAD meeting.  I think it is very important to take into account these two factors when trying to start a club or group.

Some have gone far enough to criticize those of API decent for creating exclusive queer groups or clubs. I think I can rant more on this, but I believe the mission statement of UC Davis APIQ can argue for itself:

Although the needs of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered & Intersex (LGBTI) community throughout the United States are being made more apparent through time, it remains largely unaware that the LGBT community can be further subdivided demographically. Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, Latin@/Chican@, African American and/or Native Americans who identify as Queer may face issues that are unique to their cultural/ethnic background. Asian Pacific Islander Queers @UC Davis hopes to serve the UC Davis Community (as well as the surrounding areas) in hopes to bring attention to the needs and issues that API Queers Face. We serve to...

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  Support fellow APIQs through open discussion of prevalent issues facing APIQs, provide access and reference to advice and counseling services, and provide a friendly network where APIQs can relate with peers.
  
  
  
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  Increasing the awareness for the cultural context of API-LGBT issues through quarterly workshops open to the general public, quarterly open sessions of our group meetings, and social events open to the general public.
  
  
  

Even within the API and APIQ community, many groups remain underserved largely due to unfair and prejudiced beliefs about who is and who is not API. APIQ aims to address this disservice by actively outreaching to and retaining traditionally underrepresented API groups. APIQ hopes to provide a space for all people who ethnically and/or culturally identify as APIQ. These groups include, but are not limited to, Indian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Middle-Eastern, multiracial people of Asian descent, and those who have been adopted or raised by an Asian family.