Desi Rainbow

We're asking for your help in running our life affirming programs for LGBTQIA+ Desi's and their families on this Give Out Day 2024! Community support helps us run monthly support groups, offer peer-to-peer, individualized support in multiple languages, present our Breaking the Silence workshop to build allyship, organize local affirming gatherings in a growing range of locations in California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Texas. 

Desi Rainbow is raising $10,000 to fund our support programs and offer 500 Desi LGBTQIA+ folks and their family members culturally competent, individualized, affirming support this year. 

We also accept donations on Venmo and Paypal. Checks can be mailed to PO Box 4454, Metuchen, NJ 08840.

Desi Rainbow is a one of a kind organization for South Asian American LGBTQIA+  Desi's and their families to find community with one another and learn how to better support each other. We serve Desi individuals and families who trace their origins to South Asia and work within the community to build allyship.  Our mission is to foster understanding and acceptance among families, with the goal of affirming and celebrating our LGBTQIA+ loved ones. 

Our work is local, virtual and global. We host monthly online support groups for parents and family members of LGBTQIA+ individuals, for LGBTQIA+ people who are struggling with family acceptance and for allies who want to know how to make a difference. We offer programs like Proud Possibilities, featuring LGBTQIA+ possibility models; Desi Rainbow Storytime for children and their parents, Faith & Family to celebrate Desi holidays and promote inclusion, as well as speaker events featuring topics such as mental health, raising transgender children and much more. We organize local gatherings around the country to build community and offer healing spaces for all. 

Our story started with the experience of one Desi mother who struggled to find support from her community. Not finding anything, she decided to start her own community resource. Now, we are a growing group of Desi parents, allies and LGBTQ+ people all dedicated to the idea that being proud and visible, supporting others and telling our stories will transform the lives of LGBTQIA+ children of all ages, and of their families. 

Our members are mostly in the United States and Canada, but our reach extends to other countries and continents where there is a South Asian diaspora. We welcome and celebrate diversity of religion, class, caste and experience, and are united by our desire to support our Desi children and loved ones.