Laxmi Narayan Tripathi

Her anklets jingled with each step she made. Each finger shaping itself to tell a story. Her eyes spoke of emotion. She danced as everything else faded. Her steps shook India as she stood in front of the world; a staunch activist, Bollywood actress, Bharatanatyam dancer, and major influencer of the LGBTQ+ community in India. She stood firm and proud, and she was not going anywhere. This is the force of Laxmi Narayan Tripathi.

Born as the eldest into an orthodox Brahmin family in Thane, Maharashtra, Laxmi completed her schooling and acquired an arts degree from Mithibai College and a postgraduate degree in Bharatnatyam. At a young age, dancing became her solace, her mentor, her peace. With each step, her movements felt truer to herself even when the trauma as a child and society would have brought her down.
‍
Bharatnatyam is a classical dance from Tamil Nadu, India where it expresses South Indian religious and spiritual ideas. It contains different types of bani, or “tradition”, which means dance technique and style specific to a guru or school. The dance is noted for its fixed upper torso, bent legs, and flexed knees (Aramandi) combined with footwork, and a vocabulary of sign language based on gestures of hands, eyes, and face muscles. A dance which takes years of training, dedication and passion – of which Laxmi had plenty.

Despite her hardships and trauma, she rose above and starred in several dance videos by Indian director and producer, Ken Ghosh, and later even went on to become a choreographer herself.

When India was hit with the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1990s, Laxmi spoke up and demanded that the national anti-AIDS programs include hijras as a separate category – seen, acknowledged, and protected. At the time when public health initiatives largely ignored gender-diverse communities, her advocacy helped reframe the conversation around inclusion and accessibility.

Her work has extended beyond activism into representation on both national and international platforms. As one of the first openly transgender individuals to represent Asia Pacific at the United Nations, Laxmi brought visibility to issues that were often marginalised. She emphasised the importance of dignity and self-definition, once stating “I am Laxmi. I am human. Why should I be denied my rights?”

Throughout her life Laxmi has contributed significantly to cultural discourse. In 2007, she started Astitiva, an organization for eunuchs in South Asia to promote welfare of sexual minorities, their support and development. Kavi then appealed Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a law that made homosexuality a crime which was introduced in 1861 during the British rule in India. Laxmi joined his team and made headlines when she appeared on a press conference in full makeup and unabashedly herself. It came to a shock to all including her parents while they were in the midst of marriage proposals for Laxmi. 

Marriage is often viewed not only as a personal milestone but also as a family responsibility tied to social reputation, making Laxmi’s public declaration unexpected for her relatives. When suddenly forced to confront public questions about their child, who defied social expectations placed on individuals assigned to male at birth, her father was asked for his thoughts and his response made a silent impact to all parents, “...if my child was handicapped, would you even ask me whether I'd have asked him to leave home? And just because his sexual orientation is different?" But Laxmi’s passion for activism didn’t end there. 

Her fight for dignity and recognition extended far beyond and was determined to secure equal rights for India’s transgender community. She joined hands with legal advocates to petition the courts for the recognition of transgender people as a distinct category on official documents. The struggle was long and challenging as hopes of millions of lives spent invisible in the eyes of the law were being carried. Finally in April 2014, their tireless work paid off as the Indian Supreme Court officially recognized transgender people as a third gender. 

 Laxmi situates herself within a classical tradition while simultaneously challenging its boundaries. Through her work on global platforms, including her representation of Asia Pacific at the United Nations, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi is a key figure in the study of gender, activism, and human rights. Her jingling anklets will ring out as she continues to make waves in policy and history.