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VIJAY SARAVANAMUTHU

Vijay Saravanamuthu (b. 1985) is a Tamil health promoter who has lived, moved away from, and returned to Malvern. He migrated to Canada from Tamil Nadu, India in 1989 and his family became connected to the broader network of Tamil refugees that settled in Malvern following the violence of the 1983 Black July pogroms. His family moved a lot due to socio-economic challenges; by the time he was in kindergarten, Vijay had been to three different schools and was accustomed to upheaval. He recalls inheriting clothes from neighbours and aunties travelling across roads with yogurt containers filled with food. When he was thirteen, his largely-absent father left permanently and Vijay continued to live with his mother. As he grew older, Vijay began to reckon with his queer identity in a vehemently homophobic environment, which prompted him to find a way out of Malvern. It was at the University of Guelph that he openly embraced his sexuality and was incredibly gratified to find immediate acceptance. However, he quickly realised that he was tokenized by his seemingly friendly peers. Following issues at home, Vijay left university right before completing his degree and returned to Malvern. He began working at the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP), where he could openly express both his cultural and sexual identities. He eventually moved to downtown Toronto to escape the surveillance of being in Malvern, yet was forced to return to support his family. This time, however, Vijay was not afraid of openly expressing himself as a queer Tamil. He joined TAIBU Community Health Centre, an organisation that uniquely services Black, Indigenous, and racialized populations, and has been there for the past ten years. Vijay now considers Malvern to be a source of warmth and, consequently, home.