ABSTRACTSocial science scholarship recognises language as a key medium through which we construct our realities and shape our identities. This has led to a stream of research on the intersections of language and social identity. Yet, few studies examine language and queer identities in the diaspora. In an attempt to extend this field of analysis, we focus on queer South Asians in the U.S.. Based on 30 in-depth interviews and content analysis of website and autoethnographies, we argue that the language of tradition is central to the politics of naming and belonging. Queer South Asian groups in the U.S. use discursive deconstruction of tradition to oppose homonormativity in the LGBT mainstream and heterosexist politics within the co-ethnic community.