Pride Circle presents “equALLY: Stories by FRIENDS of the Queer World”, a first of its kind anthology of powerful personal stories of individuals who have stood up, spoken up for the LGBT+ community and created safe spaces at homes, schools, colleges, workplaces and in society

In the book, we get a truly ring side view to what it means to be an "Ally". 

There are 45 stories written from a first-person perspective by people from different walks of life - Parents, Teenagers, Teachers, Corporate Leaders and Celebrities.

We celebrate and spotlight the life experiences, perspectives, and sentiments of these individuals on their journey to ‘allyship’. 

Each tale is an inspiration, a motivation, and a reminder that there are people across the country for whom the aspect of an individual's identity and existence is imperative. Conveying their solidarity towards the LGBT+ community through their written experiences of realization and transformation into an Ally makes this more than just a book - it is a milestone on the path towards Inclusion
 

Why the Book? 

Everyone has ‘ally’ stories to tell and we recognise that with each retelling, these stories create stronger connections, inclusion and bring about change. The change we want to see in a world where no one has to sacrifice their family, freedom, safety, or dignity because of who they are or who they love.

So, while the 2020 edition marks a beginning, with every fresh edition we will encourage more individuals to come forward with their ‘ally’ stories and add to the building blocks of a decidedly Indian approach to mobilising LGBT+ allies.

equALLY is our token of appreciation for their acceptance, influence, and support.


What being an Ally means to us!

What does it mean to be an ally? It means living in a world where humanity exists in different shapes, sizes, colours, views, thoughts, genders, sexualities, and regions. Co-existence is what must enrich our soil to grow bonds of respect, dignity, and love between humans. We wish to reach out to other like-minded individuals to create an environment, a society, where we ensure the safety and dignity of the LGBT+ community, until a stage of widespread equity is achieved where the label of being an 'Ally' is dropped.

An “Ally” is someone who supports LGBT+ people — both publicly and privately.

The key qualities of an ally are a desire to learn and understand, to help LGBT+ people feel supported and included and work towards fairness and justice for each and every one.

Calling yourself an ‘ally’ is only the first step. It requires active participation and visible gestures of support for the people around us. It is about using your own position of power or privilege to elevate the unheard voices and to foster not only diverse but truly inclusive environment.

Allyship is a journey of acceptance, advocacy, and action.





Authors

Locked Steel Gate

Anjali Gopalan

Human Rights &
Animal Rights Activist,
Founder

Naz Foundation
Locked Steel Gate

Argho Sen

Head Commercial Products,
Service and Operations, India

Natwest Group
Locked Steel Gate

Aruna Desai

Co-Founder

Sweekar - The Rainbow Parents
Locked Steel Gate

Ashish Kumar Jha

Director – Automation Solutions

Invesco
Locked Steel Gate

Dilip Chenoy

Secretary General

FICCI
Locked Steel Gate

Ernesto Noronha

Professor

IIM Ahmedabad
Locked Steel Gate

Gunveen Ahuja

Head of Contact Center,
Bangalore,
Pride India Lead

HSBC
Locked Steel Gate

Harish Narayanan

Head of Marketing

Myntra
Locked Steel Gate

Hemal Shah

Asia Pacific CIO,
and SVP of Data

Dell Digital
Locked Steel Gate

Ishita Katyal

Author & Public Speaker

Locked Steel Gate

Dr. Jyotsna Suri

Chairperson &
Managing Director

The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group
Locked Steel Gate

Kanak Sahoo

Parent & Homemaker

Locked Steel Gate

Karan Virwani

CEO

WeWork India
Locked Steel Gate

Kevin G Kochar

Managing Director

Goldman Sachs
Locked Steel Gate

Koushumi Chakraborti

Senior Lead
Compensation & Benefits

Infosys BPM
Locked Steel Gate

Madhavi Dahanukar

Country Executive CEO

Northern Trust India
Locked Steel Gate

Meetul Patel

Executive Director,
Strategic Growth

Microsoft India
Locked Steel Gate

Mishkkaa Verma

Grade 9 Student 

The Future Kid’s School
Locked Steel Gate

Mohit Malhotra

MD and CEO

Godrej Properties Ltd.
Locked Steel Gate

Mohit Shukla

Managing Director,
Head - India
Legal and Lead –
India Regulatory and
Government Affairs

Barclays
Locked Steel Gate

Nandita Das

Actor and Filmmaker

Locked Steel Gate

Dr. Nilakshi Roy

Associate Professor
Head of Department – English

Kerkar College
Locked Steel Gate

Nitya Bhalla

Data Science Leader & Diversity and
Inclusion Leader

Nielsen South Asia
Locked Steel Gate

Nivruti Rai

Country Head,
Intel India and
Vice President,
Data Platforms Group

Intel Corporation
Locked Steel Gate

Pankajam Sridevi

Managing Director (India), 

Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Locked Steel Gate

Pavan Vaish

Head of Driver and
Supply Operations

Uber India and South Asia
Locked Steel Gate

Payal Pasha

Parent, Poetess
Animal Activist & Homemaker

Locked Steel Gate

Ramkumar Narayanan

VP Technology &
Managing Director

VMware, India
Locked Steel Gate

Sanjay Murdeshwar

Country President &
Managing Director

Novartis, India
Locked Steel Gate

Saptorsi Hore

Head of Operations

ThoughtWorks, India
Locked Steel Gate

Shaina Shingari

Breaking Barriers
Campaigner,
Kick Start Equality
Campaigner,
Special Olympics
Bharat Campaigner

Locked Steel Gate

Simar Singh

Managing Director,
Group Operations, Hyderabad

UBS India
Locked Steel Gate

Sindhu Gangadharan

SVP and MD

SAP Labs India
Locked Steel Gate

Sreekanth Arimanithaya

Global Talent & Enablement
Services Leader

EY Global Delivery Services
Locked Steel Gate

Sudhir Shenoy

CEO and Country President

Dow Chemical International Pvt. Ltd.
Locked Steel Gate

Sudish Panicker

Managing Director
and Head

BNY Mellon International Operations, India
Locked Steel Gate

Dr. Sukanyya Misra

Senior Vice President
India Technology Hub

Mastercard
Locked Steel Gate

Suneeta Rao

IndiPop singer,
Dancer, Actress

Locked Steel Gate

Surekha Shenoy

Corporate Leader

Locked Steel Gate

Tanisha Vinod

Student, LGBT+ Ally,
Chocolate aficionado

Locked Steel Gate

Tanvi Choksi

Head - Human Resources,
India JLL Business Services, Global 

JLL
Locked Steel Gate

Taru Dahiya

Director, Asia Pacific,
Google Cloud,

Google
Locked Steel Gate

Trinetri Arora

Corporate Leader

Locked Steel Gate

Tina Muthanna

Vice President
Business Analytics & Research

Fidelity India
Locked Steel Gate

Vedica Saxena

Project Director

Tagore International School

So, an Ally is

Doting mother who understood her child over “log kya kahenge”.
Loving sibling who was the first confidant.
Caring teacher who educated the bully in school.
Supporting co-worker who addressed the trans colleague with the right pronoun.
Encouraging Vice President who wore the Pride T-shirt at work.
Discerning movie maker who brought authentic representation of the love story of the lesbian couple.
Enterprising journalist who made space for the queer story in the publication.


It is the small everyday things allies do that makes the big difference. Everyone can be an ally, what is your way?



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