Holding Community
The "Coming Out/Coming Home" workshop took place at the Southern California Library in 2008. It was led by D’Lo, a trans Tamil Sri Lankan writer, actor, and stand-up comic, who is active in community building, arts, and activism in New York and Los Angeles. For many Satrang members, this workshop was a transformative moment. It shifted the way individual members of Satrang saw themselves and created a new feeling of empowerment for the organization.
In the audio clip below, D’Lo and Alicia Virani describe the workshop and its impact. Also on view are photographs from the public reading that took place at the end of the workshop. While the workshop was private, the reading was public. Participants were encouraged to invite friends or family, including those with whom they had not yet shared their story. Some of the participants' writings were collected in a publication.
The workshop opened a space to share traumas, fears, joys, and healing. In this section, we have included a remembrance from a celebration of the life of one Satrang member who took their own life in 2008. Like so many queer organizations, suicide is a part of these communities. In the audio clip, you’ll hear Rashmi Choksey speak about how Satrang, through its programs and support systems, is also key for suicide prevention.
The "Coming Out/Coming Home" workshop took place at the Southern California Library in 2008. It was led by D’Lo, a trans Tamil Sri Lankan writer, actor, and stand-up comic, who is active in community building, arts, and activism in New York and Los Angeles. For many Satrang members, this workshop was a transformative moment. It shifted the way individual members of Satrang saw themselves and created a new feeling of empowerment for the organization.
In the audio clip below, D’Lo and Alicia Virani describe the workshop and its impact. Also on view are photographs from the public reading that took place at the end of the workshop. While the workshop was private, the reading was public. Participants were encouraged to invite friends or family, including those with whom they had not yet shared their story. Some of the participants' writings were collected in a publication.
The workshop opened a space to share traumas, fears, joys, and healing. In this section, we have included a remembrance from a celebration of the life of one Satrang member who took their own life in 2008. Like so many queer organizations, suicide is a part of these communities. In the audio clip, you’ll hear Rashmi Choksey speak about how Satrang, through its programs and support systems, is also key for suicide prevention.
Curators
Aziz Sohail is a Pakistani-born curator and writer whose research and resultant projects honor and recognise the power of queer & feminist collectivity, sociability, joy and wayward encounter. They are currently a PhD Candidate in Curatorial Practice at Monash University, Australia.
Alexis Bard Johnson is the Curator at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. She oversees the exhibitions, programs, and art collection at one of the largest repositories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer materials in the world. She most recently curated Looking for Lesbians, Six (Linear) Feet and the online exhibition Safer at Home. She holds a PhD in Art History from Stanford University and a BA from Princeton University.