Trikone (pronounced as /t̪rɪˈkoːn/) is a non-profit support, social, and political organization for South Asian bisexual, lesbian, gay, and transgender people.[1] [2] [3] It was founded in 1986 in the San Francisco Bay Area and is one of the oldest groups of its kind in the world.[4] [5] [6] South Asians affiliated with Trikone are from or trace their ancestry to the following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tibet.[7] Trikone published an eponymous magazine with an international base of subscribers several times a year.[8] The magazine was the oldest South Asian LGBT magazine in the U.S., and ran from 1986 to 2014.[9] [10]
Several metropolitan areas in North America aside from the San Francisco Bay Area also have organizations named "Trikone" (such as Trikone Northwest and Trikone Michigan), which have similar missions.[11]
The organization was co-founded in 1986 by Arvind Kumar and Suvir Das[12] with the name "Trikon" and the first newsletter was published with that name in January 1986. (The name was later changed to "Trikone" due to a name conflict with an unrelated organization, "Tricon".) Following media coverage in both the United States and India, a group soon formed to continue the publication of the newsletter and to participate in local events such as the San Francisco Gay & Lesbian Pride Parade.[13] [14]
In 2000 and 2006, DesiQ, a South Asian queer conference of international scope was produced by the organization.[15] In September 2001 QFilmistan, a film festival, was also produced.[16]
"Trikone" (Hindi/Marathi/Sanskrit: und-Deva | त्रिकोण, Telugu: త్రికోణ్, Urdu: تْرِكون, Gujarati: ત્રિકોણ, Panjabi; Punjabi: ਤ੍ਰਿਕੋਣ, Bengali: ত্রিকোণ, Malayalam: ത്രികോൺ) means "triangle"[17] in many South Asian languages. The pink triangle is a historical symbol employed in gay liberation movements.
Women of Trikone is a sub group and also has separate a list-serve for queer women of South Asian descent from the Bay Area.[18]