Alyy Patel

Sonali Patel, also known as Alyy Patel, is a South Asian-Canadian LGBTQ+ activist. She is best known for her research, advocacy, and public speaking engagements concerning the issues and experiences of Queer South Asian Women in Canada. Patel has made monumental strides for Queer South Asian diaspora in the Canadian LGBTQ+ movement. Patel is among the first to academically theorize and advocate for the culturally unique discrimination against Queer South Asian Women in North American LGBTQ+ Communities. Patel is a pioneer of research on Queer South Asian Women in Canada. Patel first coined the acronym 'QSAW' to abbreviate 'Queer South Asian Women' as a group or collective identity.

Patel rose in prominence upon the publication of her article "Brown Girls Can't Be Gay:" Racism Experienced by Queer South Asian Women in the Toronto LGBTQ Community (conducted in 2018, published in 2019). In 2019, Patel founded a grassroots organization, the Queer South Asian Women's Network (QSAW Network), which works to mobilize, visibilize, and connect gender-marginalized LGBTQ+ South Asians in Canada. In 2020 and 2024, Patel made Toronto LGBTQ+ history as the first speaker of South Asian descent at Pride Toronto's Dyke March. In 2023, Patel was recognized as one of Top 7 South Asians in Canada for her trailblazing efforts in systemic changemaking. Patel is the author of Don't Tell My Parents: Queer Diasporic Truths.

Early and personal life
Patel grew up in Halton Region, Ontario. She is born to parents of Indo-African Gujarati descent. She has been involved in community volunteering initiatives focused on social justice from a young age.

Patel speaks extensively about surviving intimate partner violence in lesbian relationships, dedicating her first book to this topic. She also speaks and writes about balancing both LGBTQ+ and South Asian identities through her activism, public speaking engagements, and academic research.

Research on Queer South Asian Women
In 2018-19, Patel pioneered Canadian research on Queer South Asian Women's issues. Patel's research initially examined the culturally unique forms of racial discrimination against queer South Asian women in North American LGBTQ+ communities. This was followed by research on the institutional mechanisms that reinforce the exclusion and invisibilization of queer South Asian women in LGBTQ+ communities. Patel's later, award-winning research focuses on second-generation queer South Asian women's experiences in the sexual minority closet. She publishes her research under her legal name, Sonali Patel. She is a sociologist by academic training.

LGBTQ+ Activism
Patel is a trailblazing LGBTQ+ activist, who has made monumental strides for Queer South Asian Women in North America. In 2019, Patel solely founded the Queer South Asian Women's Network to mobilize the needs of gender-marginalized LGBTQ+ South Asians in Canada. Through this organization, Patel brought together a community of queer South Asian women across the diaspora, making Patel a prominent figure in the formation of a distinct community for queer South Asian women.

From 2022-24, Patel hosted the largest annual community picnic and nightclub party for LGBTQ+ South Asian women in Toronto. She has also organized similar events in Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal, bringing together queer South Asian women locally. From 2021-24, Patel organized the largest virtual speed friending events for Queer South Asian women, trans, and nonbinary people.

In addition to community organizing, Patel advocates for LGBTQ+ South Asian women's inclusion through podcasts, speeches, consulting organizations, and her social media platforms. Other notable initiatives for LGBTQ+ South Asians include co-founding the Queer Gujarati Parivaar for the LGBTQ+ Gujarati diaspora in 2021.

Patel's LGBTQ+ activism is not limited to LGBTQ+ South Asians. In 2015, Patel coordinated the first LGBTQ+ Pride in Halton Region with the Positive Space Network. Between 2014-2018, Patel advocated for queer inclusion and coordinated several LGBTQ+ initiatives as a student activist at the University of Toronto, including (but not limited to): lobbying for gender-neutral washrooms, co-chairing the End the Ban campaign, etc.

Influence
As an LGBTQ+ South Asian trailblazer, Patel has been invited to speak at over 50 events, organizations, and schools, such as the International Film Festival of South Asia, Pride Toronto, Wattpad, Ontario Government, University of Toronto, and more. In 2023, Patel appeared on Amazon Prime Video's Pride Campaign in downtown Toronto's Yonge–Dundas Square.

In 2020 (and again in 2024), Patel was the first South Asian speaker at Pride Toronto's Dyke March, highlighting the inequalities faced by Brown lesbians. In 2022, Patel was the first queer South Asian speaker at the Ontario Government's Pride Flag Raising Ceremony.

Patel's research, activism, and creative work are highly influential in rethinking intersectional inclusion in the context of LGBTQ+ identities (i.e., changing dominant conceptions of what a lesbian looks like).

Author
In 2022, Patel published her first poetry book Don't Tell My Parents: Queer Diasporic Truths. She went on her Canada-wide book tour in 2024.

Awards and honours

 * 2024: Best Student Paper Award by Canadian Sociology Association
 * 2023: Named Top Seven South Asians in Canada for Systemic Changemaking by Council for Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA)
 * 2021: Named Top Ten Queer South Asian Advocates by Sher Vancouver
 * 2021: Best Graduate Thesis (Nomination) by University of Ottawa
 * 2021: January Marie Lapuz LGBTQ+ Youth Leadership Award: 2nd Runner Up by Sher Vancouver
 * 2020: SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
 * 2020: Named Top 20 Noteworthy Queers by Sher Vancouver
 * 2020: January Marie Lapuz LGBTQ+ Youth Leadership Award: Honorable Mention by Sher Vancouver
 * 2018: Gordon Cressy UofT Student Leadership Award by University of Toronto
 * 2018: Woodsworth Cup: Outstanding Student Leadership Contributions by University of Toronto
 * 2016: JS Woodsworth Service Award by Woodsworth College, Toronto
 * 2014: June Callwood Harmony Scholarship for Promoting Diversity Across Canada by Harmony Movement Canada

Works

 * Patel, S. (2019). “Brown girls can’t be gay”: Racism experienced by queer South Asian women in the Toronto LGBTQ community. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 23(3), 410-423, DOI: 10.1080/10894160.2019.1585174
 * Patel, S. (2021). Not All Lesbians are White: The Struggles of a Queer South Asian Woman in Essays on Queer Joy (Ed. Samantha Mann).
 * Patel, S. (2022). Don't Tell My Parents: Queer Diasporic Truths
 * Patel, S. (2024). Theorizing A Denial Reaction to Coming Out: Revising Goffman's Stigma through a Sexual Identity Process Model