A new understanding
To many conservative Sikh Punjabis, homosexuality is a taboo subject; ignored and misunderstood. But after years of depression and struggling with his true self, one man decided to change all that
WORDS: TIM HEAP
MANJINDER SINGH SIDHU
Born into a traditional, conservative Sikh family in the 1980s, Manjinder Sidhu’s sexuality and his struggle to accept it drove a wedge between him and his parents. When he was 11, and a pupil at a largely ethnic inner city school in Birmingham, Mani — as he’s known — realised he was gay.
“The kids picked up that I was different,” he says. “I had femininity in my voice and walk. I used to over-compensate by being funny and clever, but the kids could tell.”
Like many young gay or queer boys, he was verbally taunted at school, but describes it as teasing rather than bullying. “The kids would call me ‘Woman Gender’ instead of Manjinder,” he recalls. “If they said it to me, it was fine, but I felt ashamed when they said, ‘He’s gay, miss,’ in front of the teachers.”