The Advisory Committee
In alphabetical order
Anjali Gopalan
A human rights and animal rights activist, Anjali is the founder and executive director of The Naz Foundation (India) Trust, that led the case to read down Section 377 since 2001. In 2012, Time placed Gopalan on its list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Apurva Asrani
A National Award winning filmmaker, film editor and screenwriter, Apurva is best known for editing films like Satya and Shahid and for writing Aligarh. He has also edited the web series Made In Heaven and will soon make his directorial debut.
Maya Sharma
Running the NGO Vikalp out of Vadodara, Maya has over 40 years of work behind her dedicated to women and transgenders. Often described as a feminist, she is the author of Loving Women: Being Lesbian in Underprivileged India. She writes in Hindi and English.
Parmesh Shahani
Parmesh is the founder of the Godrej India Culture Lab, where he curates events and collaborations to spark conversations about the changing face of contemporary India, focusing on issues like gender, sexuality, digital transformation and urban reimagination. The Lab also produces resources like white papers and maps for the wider cultural industries in India, and conducts pioneering fellowship programs exclusively for humanities students studying in Mumbai colleges. Parmesh is a passionate advocate for LGBT inclusion in corporate India. His book Gay Bombay: Globalization, Love and (Be)Longing in Contemporary India (Sage Publications) was released in 2008, and his forthcoming book Queeristan: LGBTQ Inclusion in Corporate India (Westland Books) will be released in 2020. Parmesh holds an MS in Comparative Media Studies from MIT and undergraduate degrees in Commerce and Education from the University of Mumbai. He is a TED Senior Fellow, a Yale World Fellow, and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
Saleem Kidwai
A historian and queer activist, Saleem taught medieval Indian history at University of Delhi for 20 years and is now and independent scholar. He has authored (along with Ruth Vanita) Same-Sex Love in India: A Literary History. He has also edited and translated the memoirs of the singer Malika Pukhraj and a collection of short stories by Syed Rafiq Hussain.
Dr. Saif Mahmood
The author of the bestseller Beloved Delhi: A Mughal City and Her Greatest Poets, Saif is a poetry and literature critic, commentator, translator and rights activist. An Advocate of the Supreme Court of India, holding a doctorate in Constitutional Law in South Asia, he is the Founder of South Asian Alliance for Literature, Art & Culture (SAALARC).
Vivek Mansukhani
An educationist and theatre personality, Vivek has spent several years running fellowship programmes for the British Council and the Ford Foundation. He was later Director Arts India for the British Council while simultaneously pursuing theatre as a director, actor and scriptor, running Scene Stealers.
Zainab Patel
The National Manager Health And Human Rights at UNDP, Zainab is proud to be a trans. She has worked across several areas in the development space in HIV/AIDS, the empowerment of women and indigenious persons and human rights within the context of health and social development.
