Kalki Subramaniam is an Indian transgender activist, queer artist, entrepreneur, poet, actor and inspirational speaker. She is also a member of the National Council of Trans Persons constituted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in India. Kalki is an expert in DEIB issues and is the founder of Sahodari Foundation, an organization that works for Indian transgender population through its powerful and innovative projects that bring social change and empowerment. She was born in Pollachi, a beautiful town in Tamilnadu, India.
Being a champion of transgender rights in India, Kalki has spoken over to a million students across universities and other academic institutions in India and is well known for her relentless activism. She was one of the prominent activists who lobbied for the recognition of legal rights for transgender people and was one among the activists responsible in the milestone victory in 2014 when the Supreme court of India finally recognized the transgender community’s civil rights in the country. Kalki has received several awards for her social work and contributions for the upliftment of the under privileged transgender persons.
Her collection of poetry in Tamil titled ‘Kuri Aruthean’ was published in 2014. Her poems challenge misogyny, oppression and patriarchy and is praised as a brilliant Tamil queer literature, Tamil poetry. Kalki’s debut in Indian film world happened with ‘Narthaki’, an offbeat film about the life journey of a transgender woman – her quest for happiness, love and embracing her true self and discovering true happiness. She became the first transgender actor in India to do a lead role in a major motion picture.
Kalki has received numerous awards for social work, art performances, entrepreneurship and her literary contribution. On March 8th, 2015, Facebook chose Kalki as one of the 12 inspiring women of the world who use Facebook as a community development platform for empowerment. In 2016, Kalki was nominated by L’Oreal Paris India as the ‘Woman of Worth’ under the arts category.
As an artist, Kalki’s paintings celebrate the diversity of humans and and that of nature. Her paintings are vibrant and colorful. She has toured across North America and Europe to speak, perform her through art and poetry telling the stories of the Indian transgender and queer lives.
As a diversity and inclusion champion, Kalki speaks to sensitize, train and educate the corporate world through sensitization sessions and workshops on the inclusion of LGBT, transgender, gender diverse and non-binary communities in India, Europe, and North America. She has spoken at a number of Fortune 500 companies.
