"Can you help me not be Gay?" "Is there a medication that can make me straight?" "What therapy will fix me?" "I don't want to be like this!" These are real questions I've been asked by South Asian Queer individuals. The desperation in their words is palpable, stemming from a society that deems their existence unacceptable.​

Let’s not pretend therapy has a great reputation in South Asian households. For many of us, therapy is something “those people” do. It’s whispered about. It’s shameful. It’s indulgent. It’s a Western thing. And if you are in therapy? God forbid your parents find out. Remember that scene in Dear Zindagi? Alia Bhatt’s character breaks down in front of her family and admits she’s in therapy, and the whole room goes awkward-silent. That scene wasn’t fictional for many of us—it