Last Sunday saw about 150 people turn up to an event where Prakash and Lalita Soma talked about their journey of loving, supporting their son Arrun Soma, a Wellington-born Indian who is absolutely filled with pride, he is also the founder of Wellington Indian Pride.
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“I started Wellington Indian Pride because I believe we need to protect and care for those in similar situations to ensure they too don’t suffer” says the founder who is happily married to Jake Vollebregt for the last 3 years and they have been together for a decade.
In a very warm-hearted conversation with Arrun, it was obvious that he had gone through his bit of struggles where in his mid-20s he was making sense of his sexuality.
He says it was hard not only to discovery his reality but also to fight the norms and stereotypical standards set in Indian culture. At that time, he preferred locking himself in the room for over a week and calling for a sick leave at work. It was easier for him to give up on life rather than continue living it.
“People talk, and a lot of it is about showing face and that kind of thing and I think my parents were worried about what other people would say and we weren’t fitting in these gender stereotypes, which is prominent in our community.” He expressed his disagreement where the cultural norms especially in Indian culture exists, and there is no such norm he exclaims.
Jake on the other hand had to go through similar situations as he was born in a traditional Christian family and rural conservative environment at school made it tough. But he is just the right match and a massive support to Arrun and his family. Like we know you marry not just the man or women but the whole family in Indian culture.
There is no denying that initially it had been hard for Prakash and Lalita, as its tricky in the Indian community when it comes to your children discovering their sexuality and who they really are! But they had to come out of their molds, the family and the communities.
In the most blissful state Arrun narrates that he wants people to speak about it, even though it is hard, he says accepting who you are and letting your loved ones know is altogether another place. Like he had written a letter to his mother telling her the truth when his friends encouraged him to do so. And in return he got a text back from her with only love and acceptance.
“Right now I am based in Wellington, but one day we will look to go national as we have received a lot of support, calls from Auckland, Christchurch and other places in the country” says the proud gay Indian man.“ I want people to recognise that we have the same fight as yours, whether you are born here or came in recently as migrant, please know that the rainbow community face the same issues and challenges.”
The message is clear, love is love, no matter what race, culture, ethnic group, nationality, gender you come from at the end of the day we are all humans, we should spread love and acceptance.
You can follow them on Facebook @wellingtonindianpride (Picture credits: Facebook page)
-Vritti Parasher
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