Shamakami

According to co-founder Sharmeen Islam, shamakami is a Bengali term meaning "love for your equal or same."^[3] Willy Wilkinson describes it as a reclaimed word describing a woman who desires other women,^[6] and Monisha Das Gupta describes it as an "excavated indigenous term" meaning "those who desire their equals."^[7]

Wrote Islam in A Lotus of Another Color in 1993:

"Shamakami was formed with two visions in mind: the creation of a structured way of networking for South Asian lesbians and the creation of a forum in which we can express our sexuality and feminism in our own cultural context. In 1990, Shamakami had no funds, an initial membership of about 40, and a collective of about nine women. Today the organization provides free circulation of newsletters in South Asia, has a membership of 230, and has an active collective of about twenty women. This year, a woman from Assam, one of the more remote parts of India, connected with two lesbians in different parts of India through Shamakami and thus broke her isolation. In June 1991, a contingent of South Asian lesbians participated in a gay pride parade, marching joyously behind the Shamakami banner during the gay pride festivities at San Francisco."^[3]

Shamakami was one of the first South Asian LGBT magazines in the United States, after Anamika and Trikone.

In 1991, Feminist Collections described Shamakami as a "ten-page publication [which] offers news of relevant conferences and resources, poetry, lengthy editorials, and various personal essays."^[8] In 1992, Gay Community News described it as a "Forum for South Asian Feminist Lesbians."^[5][9]

The newsletter was published initially in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later out of San Francisco, California.^{[5][8][10][11][12]}

Subscriptions cost $10 per year,^[13] and were offered for free to subscribers in South Asia.^[3]

Issues:

• June 1990: Volume 1^[5][14]
• January 1991: Volume 2, #1^[14]
• June 1991: Volume 2, #2^[14]
• February 1992: #4^[14]
• June 1994: special edition^[14]
• November 1994: #7^[14]
• February 1997: #9, special edition published by Khuli Zaban^[14][15]

In addition to the newsletter, Shamakami participated in South Asian American organizing. According to Trinity Ordona, there was an in-person group in San Francisco from 1992–1993, which organized meetings, fundraisers, and social events.^[5] It also worked with other South Asian LGBTQ organizations, endorsing a 1991 action by the Emergency Coalition to Stop HIV/AIDS in India,^[16] and co-sponsoring the 1995 Pride Utsav conference in San Francisco, organized by Trikone.^[17]

• Anamika newsletter, 1985-1987
• Trikone magazine
• SamiYoni magazine
• Timeline of South Asian and diasporic LGBT history