events

June 21, 2025, 1 PM EDT • Allyship 201 Workshop

Sairam everyone! Join us (again!) for our 2nd workshop on how to become a better ally to the lgbtqia+ community. We will focus on how to practice allyship and inclusivity within Sai communities so we can grow in loving and serving all. Zoom link here and meeting information below:

Meeting ID: 941 7144 3496

Password: 923483

Check out our flyer and share with your friends! 

April 26, 2025, 12 PM EDT • Seventh Virtual Meetup

Sairam everyone! We will have our second meetup of the year on April 26th at 12 pm EDT! Hope to see you all there! Let us know if you have any suggestions for topics you’d like to discuss. Zoom link here and meeting information below:

Meeting ID: 919 2444 5534

Password: 868162

January 25, 2025, 12 PM EDT • Sixth Virtual Meetup

Sairam everyone! Thank you for coming to our first meetup of 2025 last Saturday! We had a great time seeing familiar faces and meeting some of you for the first time as well! We started the meetup with introductions and then proceeded to the questions: What do productive conversations between friends about queerness look like? How does a friend who does not identify as queer approach and/or start these conversations without overstepping boundaries?

We started the discussion by thinking about how we have had conversations with our lgbtq+ friends. People mentioned that using language that people prefer is important as is being caring and asking questions to understand without being intrusive with what we ask. We then discussed questioning our own biases and understanding how we may perpetuate systems in place that may make people feel uncomfortable. A classic and relevant example of this that was discussed was gendered seating arrangements. We discussed questioning the way we think and challenging our own biases about gender and sexual orientation. We discussed how our thoughts and beliefs can be limited based on social norms and expectations and how we can be expansive in the way we act so every person can feel comfortable being themselves.

November 2, 2024, 12 PM EDT • Fifth Virtual Meetup

Sairam everyone! We had our fifth virtual meetup. During this meetup, we discussed two questions: 

1. What do you think about the pressure to get married in our society. Many say that getting married is a requirement to live a fulfilled life but is this true? 

2. Can you go through the dating/marriage process if you’re unsure of your sexuality/sexual orientation? Or is that something you should be open about from the beginning?

Attendees shared their personal experiences relating to the above questions and we discussed how people view marriage and dating in both a spiritual and worldly context. 

September 7, 2024, 1 PM EDT • Fourth Virtual Meetup

We went through a personal reflection on how we are complacent when it comes to inclusivity and in what areas we want to improve. We shared our answers to the questions listed: 1) Why are we as a community so complacent with the status quo when it comes to inclusivity? 2) What are ways you fall into this and what are ways you break from this complacency? 3) How can we personally start making small changes, what changes do you want to make? Several people shared some reasons why they’ve noticed complacency including power dynamics, being afraid to disagree with established norms, and personal safety/comfort. Some shared personal experiences about situations in which they’ve been complacent and their reasoning behind it. After this discussion, people shared personal strategies for being more active about inclusivity including calling out biased statements in the moment, being a resource for people who may feel marginalized in the community, sharing pronouns, and carrying a physical symbol of inclusivity (e.g. pride flag pin) to show that they are a safe ally.

May 11, 2024, 2 PM EDT • Third Virtual Meetup

We started with introductions and then discussed why people may or may not choose to identify with a specific label within the lgbtqia+ community. People brought up the ideas that labels may make some people feel more seen and comfortable while it may feel more limiting to others. We then went through a few scenarios and discussed how we could react and be a better ally in these situations. Some of the points that came up during this discussion were how comfortable people are calling out discrimination, how we can support other queer people while they come out, helping people stay safe both physically and mentally, and how the cultural context of various countries changes these factors. As always, thank you for joining the discussion and sharing your thoughts and ideas! 

April 6, 2024, 3 PM EDT • Second Virtual Meetup

We started with introductions and then discussed how we can begin conversations about the lgbtqia+ community within “sai circles” both formally and informally. We began by discussing that there are some opportunities for bringing up this discussion through pronoun stickers at retreats or among parents of SSE students. We also briefly began the conversation on how gender separation impacts the lgbtqia+ community. Some people also shared their personal experiences with bringing up lgbtqia+ issues within the Sai community and how they are feeling about it. If you’d like to join our whatsapp group to stay updated on future events, check out the invite link. 

February 3, 2024, 3 PM EST • First Virtual Meetup

Followers and friends of Sai Voices of Belonging came together to get to know each other and discuss our experiences within the Sai community regarding LGBTQIA+ topics and concerns. We also engaged in questions about the intersectionality between the two communities and how to better serve both together.