Anwesh Kumar Sahoo
Anwesh Sahoo is a passionate Indian LGBTQ activist, artist, blogger, writer, model, actor, and TEDx speaker. His “Fitting Out” media campaign gained widespread acclaim while he has been an outspoken supporter of the legalization of homosexuality in India and addressing the atrocities being committed against LGBTQ people in India.
Anwesh is a highly recognized face and a respected voice not just in LGBTQ circles in India but everywhere in the country. He is an accomplished TEDx speaker who is ever willing to speak out, stand up for, and defend the LGBTQ community. He was crowned Mr. Gay World India 2016, becoming the youngest winner of the crown at the age of 20. He represented India at the Mr. Gay World 2016 pageant held in Malta and made it to the Top 12.
He came out as gay to his sister at the age of 16, and by the age of 18 had started writing a blog "The Effeminare," to combat homophobia in his own small way and create awareness related to LGBTIQ issues in India. He went on to write an article for Pink-Pages, a National LGBT Magazine in India, where he came out to the readers and later on, also to his parents through the article. In his article he writes, "There is an underlying sense of security that only the walls of the closet can ensure. But then follows the phase of suffocation. The walls that once protected us begin to make us feel restricted. And what follows is the "end of self denial."
ANWESH'S WIKIPEDIA PAGE
artist / writer / speaker