Maria Cootauco, The Province

A social group for gay Sikhs is hoping that its appearance in Vancouver's Pride Parade today will help shed some of the stigma tied to homosexuality in the community.

"The culture is not very accepting," Amar Sangha, 36-year-old founder of Sher Vancouver -- or "Share" Vancouver -- a support service for Sikh gays and their friends and families. "I remember how difficult it was for me.

"I don't want anything like that in the Sikh community. I want it to be more accepting and more tolerant."

Sher Vancouver will be the first-ever Sikh-specific gay group to march at the annual parade -- expected to be large and well-attended as it celebrates its 30th anniversary, according to John Boychuk, president of the Vancouver Pride Society.

"The South-East Asians are one of the groups that are facing the greatest number of challenges simply because of their faith and tradition," he said.

"But at the same time, they're standing up to make a call for change within their own community."

Sher Vancouver will be teaming up with two other South-Asian gay groups -- Namaste for gay Hindus and Trikone for South-Asian gays -- in this year's annual parade. The three groups said they'll be seen this weekend atop a Bollywood-themed float outfitted with drag queens, electric-hued fabric and loud music.

"It should be quite loud," Trikone Vancouver's Fatima Jaffer said with a laugh.

"I think it's going to send a very strong statement to the community that Punjabi Sikhs are gay and lesbian, too."

That's all Sangha wanted when he began the group three months ago.

"We're a minority within a minority," he said. "There was a void for a Sikh group in the [gay] community. I'm hoping we can save some souls and we can help educate people."

Boychuk sees this weekend as critical for Sher Vancouver in stepping up its visibility within the community.

"It's very scary for them," he said.

"They say that by coming out, that they will be identified within their own community and may have some repercussions. But we're here to support them."

Already, Sher Vancouver has met with some disappointment in their efforts to come out at the parade. Lukewarm interest from reluctant sponsors in the South-Asian community has meant that the group is still about $300 short of the $1,800 needed for the Bollywood float.

"We presented ourselves as a group that is not political or religious . . . We just help people that need support, but that's still not good enough," Sangha said.