Sukhdeep Singh
It is not often
that you come across openly queer Sikhs in the media. Growing up as a gay Sikh
man, the lack of visibility of queer Sikhs cast doubts in my mind about the
various identities that I held – of being gay and Sikh. Was it possible to be
both? Would I be accepted in the queer community with my Sikh identity, or
would I have to give up on one for the other? As I was trying to understand and
accept my sexuality, these questions kept disturbing me.
The Rainbow Turban Attracted Quite An Attention In the Bengaluru Pride And I got Clicked By a Few Photographers.
This struggle of
mine with my Sikh and gay identities could have been easier, had I found openly
queer Sikhs around, who could have reassured me and helped me overcome my
insecurities. Thus, I decided to be more visible and made it a point to attend
the pride marches.After attending the pride march for 4 years in
Bengaluru (where I had moved after completing my education),in the year 2014,
I decided to do something unique that would merge my two identities into one.I
thought of giving my turban a shade of the rainbow. And so, as I wrapped the
6-metre long cloth on my head, I put a small piece of cloth of different
colours of the rainbow (which I had) on each layer of the turban. To be honest,
I wasn’t sure if I will be able to tie the turban properly with so much of
extra cloth, and it did take a few tries and an hour and a half long effort. The rainbow Turban attracted quite an attention in the Bengaluru Pride that
year, and I got clicked by a few photographers. One of the photos was
even shared on Reddit and became a topic of discussion. 
That
year, I visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar wearing the rainbow turban, where
it got many a curious look (though I doubt anyone understood its significance).
Sukhdeep Singh is a Facebook addict who works as
a software engineer by day and transforms into a writer at night. He is also
the founder and editor of Gaylaxy magazine.https://feminisminindia.com/2019/06/14/a-brief-history-of-the-pride-turban-and-the-importance-of-visibility-of-queer-sikhs/?fbclid=IwAR1_Cp2SSjgWRyxQq96v_yaCIXXw776Tj3vcoJHJ_qAipjaDJnRAGIifR5Y
https://www.facebook.com/sukhi88
https://www.facebook.com/sabrabdebande/?ref=page_internal
Dr. Gurdeep Kaur
Associate Professor
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College
University of Delhi
