This week to amplify queer media during pride month, I’d like to highlight the show “Sort of” created by Bilal Baig, a queer South Asian Muslim actor who also stars as the main character Sabi. The show takes place in Toronto and follows the life of Sabi, a gender fluid millennial who juggles various identities on top of their day job as a nanny and night job as a bartender. Sabi is secure within their gender fluidity, but is transitioning in other aspects of their life such as work, romantic relationships, and family. Although Sabi confidently flaunts their fluidity in their everyday life, Sabi hides their gender fluidity from their parents, and faces the stress that many LGBTQ members face when coming out. When Sabi’s Pakistani immigrant mother discovers Sabi’s fluidity, she struggles to accept their new identity, pronoun change, and lifestyle choices.
The show is also compromised of other complex characters such as Sabi’s nonbinary best friend 7ven, Sabi’s cis White boyfriend who also has a girlfriend, Sabi’s promiscuous sister Aqsa, and many more. The show effectively represents different LGBTQ identities without harmful stereotyping, while also navigating the intersections of misogyny, gender, race, and immigrant family dynamics. The cast is dominated by people of color, including many queer people of color, a group that is typically invisible to mass media. It accurately reflects the lived experiences of queer POC living in melting pot cities, while also highlighting Pakistani culture. Most importantly, it provides respectful representation to queer South Asians.”
