Shahmir Sanni Profile picture
Sep 10, 2018 15 tweets 3 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
1/ The LGBTQI community is rife with suicide. We're killing ourselves across the globe because our daily lives are riddled with despair, loneliness and hate. So here's some of my thoughts... #WorldSuicidePreventionDay
2/ I spent my childhood battling thoughts that almost drove me to the edge. Being gay in Pakistan was a daily struggle. Despite having people that loved me unconditionally I was fighting day and night with a debilitating heteronormative pressure.
3/ Moving to Britain helped a little, but it didn't absolve me of that struggle. In Pakistan I feared murder, my own self-hate and the wrath of colonial laws. Here, I was faced with an LGBTQ community that was riddled with racism.
4/ Instead of battling oppressive cultural beliefs, I began battling the suffocating environment for LGBTQ people of colour on top of my immigrant imposter syndrome.
5/ Understanding intersections is crucial to understanding suicide in the LGBTQ community, and more importantly, the plight of queer people of colour. QPOC are killing themselves around the world because the pressure is too much, the pain too harsh.
6/ LGBTQ youth seriously contemplate suicide at almost three times the rate of heterosexual youth. We're more likely to kill ourselves because our mental health is sucked dry by heteronormative societies.
7/ For queer people of colour around the globe, being outed often leads to homelessness, ostracisation and suicide. I experienced the pain of that first hand.
8/ The first thought I had when I was outed, despite living in a 'free' society, was..."maybe if I'm dead, this will go away". No one can understand what I felt unless you are muslim, brown and queer. And it is absolutely imperative to understand this.
9/ You can not understand the pain and struggle of those that contemplate suicide unless you, yourself have had their lived experience. No one commits or considers suicide for the same reason.
10/ Each individuals circumstances are dependent on the pain and struggle they have lived through. Which is why society as a whole needs to do better in acknowledging that when someone says they are hurt, offended or upset by something you say or do, then you need to listen.
11/ It isn't just about asking your friends if they are OK. We all need to start deconstructing the systems in place that may contribute to the decline of peoples mental health. That includes racism, homophobia, ableism, classism, sexism.
12/ A more empathetic society is needed for there to be less suicide. But we can't be an empathetic society if we don't start listening to the people who are telling you that they are in pain.
13/ If white people understood how painful being outed is for people like me, then Downing Street wouldn't have ever risked putting me in that position.
14/ If cis-gendered people tried to understand the struggles of black trans women, less black trans women would be committing suicide. We all need to do better by being vigilant in calling out systems that are destroying the mental health of our communities.
15/ Start listening to us.

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More from @shahmiruk

Sep 14, 2018
Just going to leave this here.
I tried saving you from this mess Darren, but you chose the side of criminals. The High Court decision confirmed that Vote Leave broke the law, too. No matter how much you spin it, the conclusion was the same. You were found guilty.
Come forward with the truth and you can save yourself from too much damage. Matthew will always have money, they’re going to leave you to rot when the police come after you. Don’t forget that.
Read 7 tweets
Sep 10, 2018
This is a reminder to Britain that Steve Baker MP is the same MP who suggested Vote Leave ‘spend as much as money as is necessary’ during the referendum by creating ‘separate legal entities’. This is exactly what Vote Leave did. Vote Leave was found guilty for it. #criminals
.@patmcfaddenmp was the MP responsible for asking the police to investigate Steve Baker. He is now sitting in the office responsible for undertaking the Brexit process. Interesting. politicshome.com/news/uk/social…
.@SamCoatesTimes covered it in the Times last year. thetimes.co.uk/article/brexit…
Read 4 tweets
Sep 6, 2018
1/ Someone asked me why I'm celebrating #Section377 as a Pakistani. It's because in a world that hates us, queer south asians have never had a voice. We face debilitating oppression from the outside world and from within our own communities. [THREAD]
2/ Our solidarity crosses borders

In India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, even among liberal families we are pressured into keeping our sexuality subdued and our opinions silent.
3/ We are pressured into accepting a way of life that isn't truly representative of who we are and what we believe in.
Read 14 tweets
Sep 6, 2018
Today is a historic day for the LGBTQ community. The world’s largest democracy has decriminalised homosexuality. India, we love you. 💚 theguardian.com/world/2018/sep…
This is significant not just because of the size of India but because of how colonial laws have been the bedrock of Hindustan for a century. Out of all the countries that Britain invaded, its archaic laws and practises have affected India the most. Both economically & culturally.
Stripping itself of one of the most prominent of those laws and remnants of that awful time is a huge step not just for LGBTQ Indians, but all South Asians. Pakistan, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh included. Their time is coming and just thinking about it fills me up with joy.
Read 7 tweets
Sep 2, 2018
This is Jeff Silvester of AIQ visiting Number 10 after he and Zack Massingham (CEO) were invited by Downing Street (and by the Conservative Party) last autumn. AIQ was created by Cambridge Analytica and worked with Vote Leave to break the law. This is why they outed me.
When this was brought to light @10DowningStreet responded that they did not know who had invited them and would investigated. They never followed up. I know, though. It was Theresa May’s most senior advisors who were looking at growing their digital output.
So if for a second you think that @theresa_may was absolved or not part of this entire scandal - I’m sorry to say but you are wrong. It was her closest allies who she has consistently defended that orchestrated Britain’s biggest electoral scandal in modern history.
Read 9 tweets
Aug 28, 2018
I thought we stopped referring to Africa as a single, homogenous bloc and granted Africans the respect of being referred to & addressed by their individual, diverse countries, backgrounds and cultures but I guess it’s all the same to some people. #UKAfrica
British politicians never say “can’t wait to expand trade ties with Asia.” We directly refer to building relationships with India, China, Pakistan, the Middle East, Iran, Kazakhstan, Japan.
There are 54 countries in Africa. Africa is the most diverse continent on the planet and yet we are still using language that perpetuates this idea of the homogeneity of African people and I’m not here for it no matter how much people try to normalise it.
Read 4 tweets

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