Last year was a daunting one for Kamalika Dasgupta. Although she describes herself as an "out and proud gay", it wasn't until 2017 that the 28-year-old came out to her parents.
Ms Dasgupta is an accountant and business adviser who lives in Sydney with her partner. Her family who live in Kolkata, India, had been shocked and angered to hear she identified as queer.
“I tried to talk to my mother but she didn’t understand," Ms Dasgupta told SBS Hindi.
"She said I was a disgrace to my family and that they didn’t expect this from me."
After arriving in Sydney from India, Ms Dasgupta had tried to get involved with other LGBTIQ+ organisations that had a focus on the culturally and linguistically diverse community (CALD), but kept finding many groups were dominated by men and lacked input from same-sex attracted women.
Source: Supplied
“Several organisations were either lacking in cultural sensitivity or did not adequately meet the needs of same-sex attracted women," she said.
"There are certain difficulties unique to migration: social isolation, homesickness, cross-cultural issues, in addition to that, there are much more difficult issues of securing a job, affordable rent, etc.
"In addition to this, current societies available for those of multicultural multi-faith backgrounds do not provide adequate support to those newly arrived or those facing the difficulties of migration."
So she decided to start her own organisation.
is a not-for-profit organisation which was launched in December 2017 to provide help and support to queer and trans women from CALD backgrounds.
In the short span of six months, the group has over 100 members and regularly meets up and organises catch-ups across Sydney.
Source: Supplied
“We want to positively impact lives of queer and trans women migrants in Sydney," Ms Dasgupta said.
"We organise events, provide social support, and promote talents who are culturally and linguistically diverse.
"In the near future, we want to help queer women, who are facing difficulties."
SheQu has collaborated with , a free national website providing support, education and mentoring for CALD LGBTIQ+ individuals.
The founder of Ethnic LGBT+ Mikhara Ramsing believes networks play an important collaborative role in supporting Australia's growing CALD community.
Founder of Ethnic LGBT+ Mikhara Ramsing says, “Our networks together play an important collaborative role in supporting this growing community across Australia. Source: Supplied
“With one in five identifying themselves from a migrant background, 27 percent speaking a language other than English at home and 11 percent of young people identifying as sexually and gender diverse, we need more organisations like SheQu and Ethnic LGBT+ and more support for organisations like this to address the specific challenges CALD LGBTIQA+ individuals face," Ms Ramsing said.
“SheQu and Ethnic LGBT+ are collaborating in this space and we can provide better support and access to support for all CALD LGBTIQA+ individuals across Australia."
Both organisations hope to make things a little easier for same-sex attracted, queer and trans women living in Australia.
Source: Supplied
“Being from a culturally and linguistically diverse background is hard and being queer makes it even harder, so having a support group that will help you, can make things better and a little easier,” Ms Dasgupta said.
“We got your back."
