Nationality Indian Name Anjali Gopalan | Residence New Delhi Awards Legion of Honour | |
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Born 1 September 1957 (age 66) Chennai, India ( 1957-09-01 ) Occupation LGBT rights activist, Executive Director of The Naz Foundation (India) Trust | ||
Anjali gopalan on gay rights
Anjali Gopalan pronunciation (born 1 September 1957) is an Indian human rights and animal rights activist, founder and executive director of The Naz Foundation (India) Trust, an NGO dedicated to the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in India mainly focused on women and children. Anjali began working on issues related to HIV/AIDS and marginalized communities in the United States. In 2012, Time placed Gopalan on its list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Contents
- Anjali gopalan on gay rights
- Anjali gopalan advocacy and my unexpected path to making change
- Early life
- Early work
- 1990s
- 2000s
- Anjali Gopalan Srishti Awards for Social Justice Journalism
- References
Anjali gopalan advocacy and my unexpected path to making change
Early life
Anjali Gopalan was born in 1957 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Her father Group Captain Dr. KR Gopalan was an officer in the Indian Air Force and her Punjabi mother a homemaker. Anjali did her schooling in La Martiniere Lucknow. She studied in both India and the US, and her degree in political science from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, a postgraduate diploma in journalism, and a Masters in international development from Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Early work
Anjali worked for nearly a decade with community-based organizations in New York City where she worked for migrants from South-East Asia who lacked valid documents. She later started the Naz Foundation that changed the lives of LGBT and women's and children those who live with HIV positive. Providing direct services for HIV/AIDS and Marginalization issues. Circumstances led her to live and care HIV affected undocumented migrant labor, schoolchildren, and South Asian communities.
1990s
When Anjali returned to India, She established Delhi’s first HIV clinic in 1994 and the Naz Foundation (India) Trust, an HIV/AIDS service organization that concentrates on prevention and care. The foundation currently works on issues of sexuality rights.
2000s
In 2000 she opened the country’s first holistic home cares for orphaned vulnerable HIV+ children and Women. She trains health professionals and care-givers to treat HIV+ children, and recognizes that existing facilities need to expand their scope to include them. She has designed a system that provides multi-faceted care to infected children, both in the home and in foster care.
Her main concern still remains in providing quality care to those living with the HIV infection, which she has done through founding and managing a care home for HIV-positive children and women. As a strong advocate for the sexual health and rights of the LGBT community, Anjali spearheaded the eight year legal battle against Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In 2001, her organization filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to decriminalize homosexuality and put an end to the archaic law under which individuals were harassed and discriminated against based on their sexual orientation. The Delhi High Court ruled in favour of Naz India in 2009 and declared Section 377 an infringement on individual rights.
In 2001, Anjali was awarded the Commonwealth Award for her work with the marginalized communities. The Chennai-based Manava Seva Dharma Samvardhani presented her the Sadguru Gnanananda Award in 2003, for her work in supporting those living with HIV/AIDS.
In March 2007, Anjali was honored as a Woman Achiever by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, along with nine other awardees. She was felicitated by Sri Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker of the Lok Sahba, in the presence of Minister of State for Women and Child Development.
On 29 July 2012, Anjali Gopalan inaugurated Alan Turing Rainbow festival and flag offed the Asia's first Genderqueer pride parade as a part of Alan Turing Rainbow festival organised by Gopi Shankar Madurai of Srishti Madurai this was the first Gay pride parade attended by Anjali. From 2012 September 2, Anjali is serving as the Advisory head of the committee of Srishti Madurai.
On 25 October 2013 Anjali was awarded Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur `Knight in the order of the legions of Honor' which is the highest award from the France presented to her by Najat Vallaud-Belkacem Minister of Women's Rights for France. Anjali Gopalan is the first Indian Tamil woman awarded with "Legion of Honour".
In 2014 the Limca Book of Records placed Anjali Gopalan in "People Of The Year".
Actor Nutan Surya played the role of Anjali in Aligarh (film) released on 2016.
Anjali Gopalan Srishti Awards for Social Justice Journalism
The Academic committee of Srishti Madurai awards the Anjali Gopalan (AG) Srishti Awards for Social Justice Journalism to distinguished social Journalists. The first award was received by V. Mayilvaganan and V. Narayanswamy from The Times of India for highlighting issues of genderqueer and Santhi Soundarajan.