A gay Sikh activist in the UK says he faced threats from relatives after he decided to come out openly and talk about his sexuality.
30-year-old Manjinder Singh Sidhu, after years’ struggle to get his family to accept his sexuality, has produced several videos including one with his mother and authored a book to help other families going through similar experiences.
He has told the BBC that he faced discrimination at the hands of his own cousins after he decided to be open about him being gay.
“People would write stuff like- no batty men allowed, no gay boys allowed to the party or birthday,” said Mr Sidhu.
He said when he confronted them, he was threatened that they were going to beat him.
Mr Singh said his family and relatives were concerned about the honour of the girls in their family.
“The fear had always been let the daughters get married- from my parents- and then you can do your activism,” he said.
“They were like, we are going to ruin their marriage. We are going to ruin their engagement and prevent any good happening.”
Mr Sidhu lives with his parents in Birmingham who have now accepted his homosexuality.
In June 2015, he recorded a video with his discussing his homosexuality, to help other families in a similar situation.
In the video, his mother advises other families to accept their children the way they are, rather than trying to change them.
His book 'Bollywood Gay: A help yourself book to living an authentic life' was launched at the House of Lords in February this year.
Homosexuality is considered a taboo by many Sikhs, though there’s no explicit mention of it in the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib.
The head of the supreme temporal seat of Sikhism, Akal Takht Sahib said the Sikh code of conduct did not allow same-sex marriage and he urged the Sikhs not to allow same-sex marriages in Sikh temples.
Recently, Bawa Singh Jagdev- secretary, National Sikh Council of Australia, in his submission to a senate inquiry into government’s draft marriage equality bill said same-sex marriages will destroy the whole human race.
Many Sikhs, expressing their support for same-sex marriages, reacted angrily to Mr Jagdev’s submission against the proposed bill.
“We aren't going to let some self-appointed 'leader of the Sikh community' represent us. It's about time we have that conversation,” wrote Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa, a spoken word on her Facebook.
