麻豆社

Good morning.

We are now halfway through Pride month, and I was delighted to see that Miriam Margolyes made the front cover of Vogue for the first time at the age of 82. In her interview with the magazine, she said:

鈥淚 think gay people are very lucky, because we are not conventional, we are a group slightly apart. It gives us an edge. We鈥檙e good artists, we鈥檙e good musicians. And I like being gay. I wouldn鈥檛 want to be straight for anything鈥�

Miriam鈥檚 words truly resonate with me. I鈥檓 a gay married Sikh man, and throughout my adult life, I have seen my homosexuality as a blessing. It鈥檚 meant I鈥檝e had the benefit of an outsider鈥檚 perspective on life.

Being a gay person of colour and a person of faith strengthened my inner resolve and gave me the confidence to be who I am today. It also allowed me to become part of what someone described as my 鈥榪ueer family of faith鈥�, friends from different religious and spiritual backgrounds who connected because we are LGBTQ+.

But not everyone shares the same positive views about queerness, which was why I didn鈥檛 publicly talk about my own sexuality until earlier this year. Even though my life experiences defined who I am, I didn鈥檛 feel comfortable with everyone knowing that part of my life. If I was straight, I wouldn鈥檛 need to go around telling everyone about it, so why should I do that just because I鈥檓 attracted to men?

Since being more open, I鈥檝e found it liberating not to have to hide my personal life. It鈥檚 also been humbling. So many who feel like outsiders have told me how they鈥檝e been inspired simply by hearing about the wedding of a gay turban wearing Sikh and his husband.

And it's made me appreciate this Pride month differently. For many of us, being gay is an act of defiance simply by existing. It鈥檚 a timely reminder that only 34 nations around the world would recognise my marriage, let alone the many countries where I could be imprisoned, flogged, or worse because of who I love.

However, it鈥檚 also a month of great celebration, when we can talk with passion about who we are and come together collectively as members of the LGBTQ+ community who have gone through similar journeys in life.

Amongst his many teachings, Guru Nanak said 鈥淲e are all under the Divine Command, no-one is outside of that Command鈥�. For me, the LGBTQ+ community exists because the Divine commanded it, and that is something that I will forever be thankful for.

Show less