On Saturday, May 14, LPAC’s Founder Urvashi Vaid passed away. We have lost a fierce fighter and friend. Urvashi’s activism, vision, and determination changed the progressive movement and improved the lives of marginalized people across the United States. We are heartbroken by this loss and will miss Urvashi deeply, but will look to her example as we continue to strive for equality and social justice. Our hearts are with her partner Kate Clinton, her family, and everyone who knew and loved her.

You can read an obituary from The Washington Post here. We would also like to share a few remembrances of Urvashi from those of us at Team LPAC.

LPAC Board Chair Laura Ricketts:

Urvashi was a bold, brilliant, strategic and innovative advocate and activist. She was a community builder and a movement maker who inspired all of us to do more because we all deserved more. When she didn’t inspire us, she pushed and pushed and pushed us to do more. I have never met anyone with more passion and drive, and all for a better, more just and equitable world. She was unapologetically direct and unreservedly candid, always true to herself and speaking her truth, never shying away from conflict or afraid to stand up for what is right. Being a more reserved and diplomatic Midwesterner, I think this is what I admired most about her. She was also very loving with a whip smart sense of humor. Urvashi is a legend and a treasure. The impact of her legacy is immeasurable. I feel blessed to have known her and to have learned from her, and honored to have worked alongside her.

LPAC Executive Director Lisa Turner:

It goes without saying that Urvashi Vaid was a powerhouse activist and advocate. She was also kind, and generous in complimenting those around her. I cannot think of a time when I was in a room with Urvashi when she didn’t say something validating about me or my work and why I should be sitting at the table. Some of the most meaningful and important work I have done on behalf of social justice is because Urvashi opened a door and pushed me into uncharted waters. I will be forever grateful to have been in her orbit.

LPAC Board Member Alix Ritchie:

To be in a world without Urvashi is almost inconceivable – even for those of us who were marching along with her in her fight with cancer. And I say marching, because that is what she did – about almost everything, but especially for the equality of LGBTQ people and very specifically for women, gay or straight. I remember avidly discussing the ideas about bringing more lesbians to the table when political decisions are being made about their lives and their relative invisibility in the LGBT world – all of which led to the creation of LPAC. Urvashi was unrelenting in pushing all of us to be better, to just get more done. And we are all better for having been pushed! We have all been blessed by having Urv in our lives, and none more than Kate, who deserves every bit of love we can send her way right now.

Former LPAC Board Member Diane Felicio:

There was nothing like seeing Urvashi “in action.” Her entire self: body, eyes, voice, and soul were transformed. Urvashi, the message, the action, the cause became one. That was one of her many superpowers – she would use herself, in her entirety, to grab us, to make us look and see the injustices she refused to ignore, to propel us into action. It was a privilege for me to sit around the same table as Urvashi, to learn from all that she embodied, to share the floor with her at LPAC events, and to have countless one-on-one discussions as we crafted the future of LPAC. It is impossible for me to chronicle all that I absorbed from Urvashi, but I know this, anytime I think I am fighting hard for transformational change, I know I have to fight harder, because she would. She would always do more.

Former LPAC Board Member Emily Giske:
I got a call from Urvashi out of the blue and she suggested starting a new PAC, which eventually would became LPAC. I told her “let do this!” Urvashi made LPAC happen. A call from her was a calling card for good, exciting, important work. Urvashi was excellent at making things happen for the good of our community.

The post Remembering Urvashi Vaid first appeared on Lesbian.com.

San Francisco will get a taste of queer India this week as LGBT South Asians descend on the gay mecca for the fourth DesiQ Conference on July 4 – 6.

U.S. Indian power queers Gautam Raghavan and Mira Patel along with Urvashi Vaid and Surina Khan will be the highlight of the fourth DesiQ Conference in San Francisco.

Started in 1994, DesiQ brings together LGBT South Asians every five to seven years, say organizers.

Urvashi Vaid (Photo: Vassar College/John Abbott)

“The purpose of [DesiQ] is to show people that they have community and that we can build strong coalition to support one another and the causes that are important to us,” says Poonam Kapur, a volunteer on the marketing and steering committee of DesiQ, whose first conference was in 2006.

“It’s wonderful to be able to bring in the diverse array of beliefs, lifestyles [and] cultures that South Asia encompasses and to know that you are not alone,” she continues, pointing out that there are South Asian organizations throughout the U.S. and LGBT organizations in India and neighboring countries. “The biggest thing is to know that you have community anywhere and everywhere that you go.”

Gautam, a 31-year-old gay man, who is a public engagement advisor at the White House’s public engagement office and regularly advises the President on queer issues as the LGBT liaison, agrees.

“I always think it’s empowering to bring together a community with shared experiences and similar perspectives,” he says in an email interview with Girls That Roam. “It’s a great chance to learn from one another, share stories, and identify opportunities to work together; and hopefully leave inspired and hopeful about the future.”

Lucky seven

Seven years has brought many changes. In 2009, the Delhi High Court invalidated Section 377, a law from British rule that banned homosexuality. Since then there has been an emerging acceptance of LGBT individuals in some parts of India and Indian families around the world and India is chasing the pink dollar, according to queer Indians who spoke on a panel discussion in 2011.

In the U.S., queer Indians have had a major impact on the global LGBT movement within the State Department and President Barack Obama’s administration.

Gautam, who will open the conference on July 4, plans to highlight the work that is left to do in the LGBT movement in the U.S. and South Asia and the “the important role LGBT South Asian Americans can play,” he writes.

“We have lots of work left to do to ensure our communities are safe and free from discrimination in our homes, places of worship, and in the workplace,” says Gautam.

Mira, special adviser on the Secretary of State’s policy planning staff at the State Department, was instrumental in former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s historic United Nation’s speech that empowered queers worldwide with, “Gay rights are human rights,” speech and was a key player launching the State Department’s Global Equality Fund in 2011.

Mira, a gay woman, will speak at the gala on July 6.

At Saturday’s gala, Urvashi will be honored with an award and Surina will accept an award on behalf of the Ford Foundation. Urvashi, a longtime activist, attorney and author, will be honored with a Pink Peacock Award for her three decades of work toward equality for LGBT South Asians, in particular Trikone, and the wider queer community.

Surina, the director of gender rights and equality of the Ford Foundation, who is also a longtime activist for LGBT rights in the South Asian community, will accept the Community Partner Award on behalf of Ford Foundation. The foundation has been a longtime funder of LGBT rights, in particular in India and other South Asian countries.

Los Angeles-based performer D’Lo will emcee the gala and New York-based DJ Rekha will spin the Bhangra.

The spice of life

For nearly 20 years, DesiQ has been a source of activism and life changing experiences and friendships, say organizers.

“I’m just really excited,” says Poonam, a 34-year-old lesbian, about being introduced to a community of queer people that share traditions and similar ways of thinking like herself. “DesiQ was my first foray into our diverse South Asian queer community. It was an opportunity for me to feel understood and accepted.”

“I still feel the imprint of the amazing people I met, the workshops I attended and the inspiration of possibility I experienced,” continues Poonam. “Seven years [later] I look forward to going back and I look forward to growing my network of friends and fellow activists.”

Mads, a 40-year-old lesbian, agrees, adding that when she first discovered DesiQ and Trikone in 2000 she was new to the U.S., just coming out discovering herself and searching for community. More than a decade later, she has strong friendships that were made during her first DesiQ Conference.

Thirteen years later, the second wave of leaders, like Mads, and the movement has matured and this year’s conference reflects that change. This year’s conference will feature three tracks hosting more than 30 panel discussions.

The first track focuses on welcoming a new generation of Desi queer activists exploring coming out and creating community; the second track focuses on building a sustainable and global movement and personal health and well-being to marriage and creating families; and a third track will focus on South Asian queer arts and literature.

The conference will end with a Gala in Oakland.

“It’s always important to mark occasions,” says Mads, about the Gala. “South Asians, we have a good time partying. That’s what we do well.”

Getting serious, she points out that having a party allows people who aren’t interested in attending the conference to mingle and socialize with activists and to celebrate community leaders.

DesiQ is coordinated by a core group of nine members of Trikone, the oldest LGBT South Asian organization in the world that is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with an estimated $100,000 operating budget, says Mads.

An estimated additional 20 volunteers will be working at the conference.

The conference is funded by the Arcus, Gill and Ford foundations with support from Gay Asian Pacific Alliance Foundation, Kaiser Permanente Pride, Boston Masala, KhushDC, SALGA-NYC, Satrang and Dr. Robert Owen at UCSF.

The conference is located at UCSF’s Mission Bay Campus, 600 16th St., San Francisco. Onsite registration for single day and full conference passes are available starting at $100 to $200. Student passes are available for $100.

The Gala is located at the Scottish Rite Center in Oakland, 1547 Lakeside Dr., Oakland. Tickets are $75 online (until midnight on July 5) and at the door $100.

To volunteer or get more information, visit DesiQ.org or Trikone.org.

Originally published by the Bay Area Reporter.

The post LGBTQ South Asians gather in SF for DesiQ first appeared on Lesbian.com.