Upcoming Pride Events for June 2013

KhushDC's Upcoming Pride Events:

• Friday, May 31 at 10pm (Tomorrow night!): Pop-up AAPI Queer Dance Party
  We're joining forces with our queer AAPI brothers and sisters to throw a dance party tomorrow night as we transition from Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month (May) to LGBTQ Pride Month (June). It's our QUEER AAPI Pop-Up Dance Party!

Our DJ's will be spinning Top 40's, Bollywood, Bhangra, 80s, and more all night long!

WHERE: Upstairs of MAMBO Room at Chief Ike's, 1725 Columbia Rd NW Washington, DC 20009 (In the Adams Morgan area, between Columbia Heights and Dupont Metro stops)
WHEN: 10pm on Friday, May 31

NO COVER! $3-5 domestics. $6 RAIL drinks.

Hosted by: KhushDC, AQUA, NQAPIA, and APIQS

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/149708791880370

• Friday, June 7 at 6pm: Truck Decorating Party for Pride

Join KhushDC to decorate our truck for the Capital Pride Parade and make posters! We'll bring the food. You bring the drinks. We'll all decorate the truck and make posters while listening to Bollywood/Lollywood/Tollywood, Bhangra, and other beats. ;)

Also, please bring any old saris, dupattas, streamers, etc. that we can use to decorate the truck!

WHERE: RSVP to board@khushdc.org and we'll send you the address.
WHEN: 6pm on Friday, June 7

Only open to KhushDC members, their partners, and allies (especially ones that can do desi truck art and have fabulous decorating skills!).

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/581073398593629/

• Saturday, June 8 at 2pm: March with KhushDC at the Pride Parade

KhushDC would like to invite DC's South Asian LGBTQ community and our straight allies to the 38th Annual Capital Pride Parade on Saturday, June 8th.

The Pride Parade is an opportunity to showcase the diverse faces of the LGBTQ community and stand proudly for those South Asian LGBTQ individuals who are not yet able to be out. We stand as friends, mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters to celebrate, but also remember the struggles we’ve fought collectively to reach this right to be equal.

DJ Harsh will be spinning Bollywood, Bhangra, and more during the parade to keep us going!

WHERE: Meet at Larry's Lounge (1836 18th St NW, Washington, DC) and we'll walk over to the parade meeting spot.
WHEN: 2pm on Saturday, June 8 (important to be on time)

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/499052163493386/

KhushDC statement at 2013 Pride & Heritage

KhushDC recognizes Mala Nagarajan and Vega Subramaniam at D.C.’s Pride & Heritage Celebration – Statement by KhushDC President, May 18, 2013

I am lucky enough to introduce two of our honorees today, Mala Nagarajan and Vega Subramaniam. In the LGBTQ advocacy world, you have those who speak for our rights and those who take it a leap further and act on the fight for our rights. Mala and Vega are two such individuals.

Mala has served on the National Queer Asian Pacific Islanders Alliance board and was a fellow of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute, where she researched leadership development and movement building in small identity-based organizations.

Vega is the executive director of the Collaborative Project of Maryland, which offers low-income Marylanders access to a respectful alternative dispute resolution process.

While living in Seattle, together with Mala, she co-founded Trikone-NW in 1997, an organization for queer South Asians in the Pacific Northwest. The two of them helped organize the DesiQ conference in San Francisco in 2006 and the NQAPIA national conference in 2009 and 2012. They are among the founding members of the Rainbow Dragon Fund, a giving circle that aims to increase social justice philanthropy supporting queer Asian and Pacific Islander communities in the DC area. For those of you who are not yet members, I recommend you look into the Rainbow Dragon Fund and the great ways it’s helping our community and its various organizations.

Importantly, Mala and Vega were one of eight couples who participated in the marriage equality lawsuit against King County and the state of Washington in 2004.  Their advocacy raised awareness to this inequality that led all the way to a public referendum that finally brought gay marriage to Washington state last year.

They have also proved to be incredibly caring, welcoming people for those of us who are new to DC and the queer advocacy world. It’s been incredibly helpful for me to get to know them these last few years. But they also took their open arms even further recently when they took in an at-risk, homeless queer teenager. They gave him a welcoming place to live and open ears to hear and help him through his problems.

Congratulations, Mala and Vega. Your willingness to act where you see inequality and to help those in need is something we cherish and I know of few people as deserving as you for this type of an award.

2013 DC Pride & Heritage - May 18

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Heritage Month. June is LGBTQ Pride Month. May 17th is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

Join DC's queer AAPI community to celebrate each of those events and recognize community leaders. The event, Pride & Heritage, is a collaboration between APIQS, KhushDC, AQUA, and NAPAWF-DC and it will be our 13th year celebrating it together!

This year's program includes updates from each of our organizations, honoring of local community leaders, and more.

• Date: May 18, 2013
• Time: Party starts at 5:30PM; programming starts at 6:30PM.
• Location: Larry's Lounge, 1840 18th St NW, Washington DC
• Lower level and outdoor patio
• Nearest Metro station is Dupont Circle
• Cover: $5 cover includes hor d'oeuvres from Burma Restaurant and a raffle ticket. Prizes include selection of sex toys courtesy of The Garden. Additional raffle tickets may be purchased.
• Other information: 
• Happy hour specials from 4pm to 9pm.
• Dress code: casual.
• This event is open to all.

HONOREES:

• Danny Leung (AQUA)
• Mala Nagarajan (KhushDC)
• Vega Subramaniam (KhushDC)
• Lan Van (APIQS)

Asian Pacific Islander Queer Sisters (APIQS) - http://www.apiqsdc.org/
KhushDC - http://www.khushdc.org/
Asian Queers United for Action (AQUA) - https://www.facebook.com/aqua.dc.5
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF-DC) - http://napawf.org/

March with KhushDC at Capital Pride!

I want to march for tolerance, acceptance and understanding. I want to take a stand and say, "Me, too." – Jason Collins, Sports Illustrated, April 2013

KhushDC would like to invite DC's South Asian LGBTQ community and our straight allies to the 38th Annual Capital Pride Parade on Saturday, June 8th at 2pm.

The Pride Parade is an opportunity to showcase the diverse faces of the LGBTQ community and stand proudly for those South Asian LGBTQ individuals who are not yet able to be out. We stand as friends, mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters to celebrate, but also remember the struggles we’ve fought collectively to reach this right to be equal.

The sign-making and truck decorating party is on Friday, June 7th at 6:00pm. Please RSVP to board@khushdc.org or on the Facebook event page to receive the address.

Plus, DJ Harsh will be spinning Bollywood, Bhangra, and more to keep us going during the parade!

LOGISTICS for Saturday, June 8 (Day of the Pride Parade):

• Meeting location: Larry's Lounge (1836 18th St NW, Washington, DC)
• Meeting time: 2pm ET on June 8th (please do not be late)
• What to wear: Desi/South Asian clothes are encouraged, but make sure it's "breathable" clothing because it may get warm. Also, you want to be able to dance in it! :)
• What to bring: Water bottle is always a good idea; otherwise keep very little on you. 

RSVP on the Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/499052163493386/

Contact: board@khushdc.org

Read Jason’s full op-ed on the Sports Illustrated website:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/news/20130429/jason-collins-gay-nba-player/#ixzz2RuawZh7A