MAR 2021 | SANGEETA SARKAR

Image description: Sangeeta is outdoors smiling while holding up a basket of plants. There is a fence and vegetation behind them.
Image description: Sangeeta is outdoors smiling while holding up a basket of plants. There is a fence and vegetation behind them.

Sangeeta (they/them) identifies as a queer non binary South Asian femme. They were part of the 2020 LEX (Queer Leadership Exchange) cohort and are currently leading an Asking for Help workshop series for Trans and Queer South Asian folks.

They are a part of APIENC because they feel like they can bring their full self to the space – queer, nonbinary, neurodivergent – and all of those identities are honored and even celebrated. Seeing QTAPI identities modeled in APIENC has also given them a lot of confidence in who they are. APIENC truly embodies radical welcome, and it makes them want to show up and be a part of the community. 

Outside of APIENC, Sangeeta currently works as a research engineer at a reproductive health company. They love nerding out over medical devices and diagnostics and is super passionate about reproductive health, so this job is the perfect combination of the two. They are also a member of ASATA, the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, which has been their political home over the past few years. They were amazed to find a group of leftist South Asians who push each other to grow politically while holding together a warm community. They’re also working with some folks in ASATA to bring back Brown & Green, a South Asian climate justice group. (P.S. If you’re interested, please reach out to them!)

Both their paid work and community organizing come from their lived experiences. Sangeeta grew up in a working class family in a rural area and was acutely aware of the inequities around them and how they manifested in every sphere of life. They now feel like they are journeying through some of the inequities they’ve seen and are getting to address them in their work.

When asked about their hopes for the trans and queer API community, Sangeeta says:

I hope that trans and queer API folks are able to be safe, held, and celebrated in the fullness of who we are. I hope that we fully support and work towards Black and indigenous liberation, which is inextricably linked to our own liberation. I hope for us to actively fight classism and casteism within and outside of our movements. I hope that our movements bring us closer to ourselves, each other, and the earth.

Their favorite APIENC memory was sharing affirmations with their LEX cohort at the end of their time together! They reflect on how great it was to love on the folks they’d met during LEX, and how being affirmed was incredibly healing for them. 

Fun Fact: Sangeeta has recently started brewing their own kombucha!