The United Way’s Peel chapter hosted a panel discussion in Brampton on Wednesday, Jan. 24 aimed at bridging hard-to-discuss, or “taboo” issues within the region’s South Asian community.

Peel Region is home to a very diverse population, with more than 55 per cent of its population self-described as racialized. Among them, 50.79 per cent are of South Asian descent, according to the United Way.

“South Asian” describes people descended from the Indian subcontinent, which is made up of Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The Giving Voices to Unspoken Issues in Peel forum featured a four-speaker panel and focused on three “unspoken and taboo” issues identified as challenges in the South Asian community, including substance abuse, homophobia and racism.

Founder and CEO of Punjabi Community Health Services, Baldev Mutta, started things off speaking about substance abuse and addiction.

Mutta identified a number of challenges and cultural obstacles facing his community, especially as it relates to pride in the face of social factors known to contribute to addiction and mental health problems.

Touching on factors ranging from the difference in traditional views of medicine in South Asian culture compared to Canada, pride in the face of poverty, and the cultural significance of alcohol in those communities, Mutta says — while not unique to them — Peel’s South Asian communities face some additional challenges in dealing with addiction and substance abuse.

He pointed to stats showing twice the incidence of impaired driving charges in the South Asian community compared to the general population as an example.

Sushma and Vijay Agarwal, renowned LGBTQ+ activists in the South Asian community, shared their family’s story about coming to grips with their son coming out as gay in a culture where that lifestyle is largely unaccepted.

Their son, Richi, came out of the closet in 2004. After their initial shock, which they described as culturally rooted in their Indian heritage, Vijay and Sushma founded PFLAG Peel, a subsidiary of PFLAG Canada which aims to help and support LGBTQ+ people and their families through the process of coming out.