Shamakami was an early organization of South Asianlesbians and bisexual women based in the United States.[1][2] They published a newsletter of the same name between June 1990 and February 1997.[3][4][5]
Founding
According to co-founder Sharmeen Islam, shamakami is a Bengali term meaning "love for your equal or same."[3]Willy Wilkinson describes it as a reclaimed word describing a woman who desires other women,[6] and Monisha Das Gupta describes it as an "excavated indigenous term" meaning "those who desire their equals."[7]
Wrote Islam in A Lotus of Another Color in 1993:
"Shamakami was formed with two visions in mind: the creation of a structured way of networking for South Asian lesbians and the creation of a forum in which we can express our sexuality and feminism in our own cultural context. In 1990, Shamakami had no funds, an initial membership of about 40, and a collective of about nine women. Today the organization provides free circulation of newsletters in South Asia, has a membership of 230, and has an active collective of about twenty women. This year, a woman from Assam, one of the more remote parts of India, connected with two lesbians in different parts of India through Shamakami and thus broke her isolation. In June 1991, a contingent of South Asian lesbians participated in a gay pride parade, marching joyously behind the Shamakami banner during the gay pride festivities at San Francisco."[3]
Newsletter
Shamakami was one of the first South Asian LGBT magazines in the United States, after Anamika and Trikone.
In 1991, Feminist Collections described Shamakami as a "ten-page publication [which] offers news of relevant conferences and resources, poetry, lengthy editorials, and various personal essays."[8] In 1992, Gay Community News described it as a "Forum for South Asian Feminist Lesbians."[5][9]
February 1997: #9, special edition published by Khuli Zaban[14][15]
Events and actions
In addition to the newsletter, Shamakami participated in South Asian American organizing. According to Trinity Ordona, there was an in-person group in San Francisco from 1992–1993, which organized meetings, fundraisers, and social events.[5] It also worked with other South Asian LGBTQ organizations, endorsing a 1991 action by the Emergency Coalition to Stop HIV/AIDS in India,[16] and co-sponsoring the 1995 Pride Utsav conference in San Francisco, organized by Trikone.[17]
^Roy, Sandip (2006). "Desi Queer Datebook". Berkeley South Asian History Archive. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
^ abcdIslam, Sharmeen (1993). "Toward a global network of Asian lesbians". In Ratti, Rakesh (ed.). A lotus of another color: an unfolding of the South Asian gay and lesbian experience. Boston: Alyson Publications, Inc. pp. 41–46. ISBN1-55583-171-0. OCLC26855093.
^ ab"New and Newly Discovered Periodicals"(PDF). Feminist Collections: A Quarterly of Women's Studies Resources. University of Wisconsin Women's Studies Librarian: 32. Summer 1991. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
^Chan, June (Jan 12, 1992). "Fighting Asian Stereotypes". Gay Community News. 19: 5.
^"Samachar"(PDF). Rungh. 3 (3): 38. 1995. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
^"khuli zaban - legprints". khuli zaban. Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2021-03-23. February 1997: khuli zaban publishes a special edition of the Shamakami newsletter, the first internationally distributed publication for South Asian lesbian and bisexual women.
^"Stop AIDS Coalition Plan Demonstrations". India-West. August 2, 1991. p. 50 – via Ethnic Newswatch.
^"Pride Utsav '95". India Currents. 9: C10. June 1995 – via ProQuest. South Asian lesbian and gay groups from around the country and Canada are co-sponsoring this conference. They include: Atish (Vancouver), Khush (Toronto), Khush (Washington, DC), MASALA (Boston), Sangat (Chicago), Shamakami (nationwide), SALGA (New York), SALGA (Philadelphia), Trikone (Atlanta), and Trikone (Los Angeles).