In line with TEDxAITP's theme, 'Mavericks of the Millennium', free spirit Harish Iyer talks about how gender is a societal norm, a stereotype that neither he nor anyone should ever subscribe to. Watch him take you on a journey that will make you realise that people are so much more than the pronouns we associate with them.

Given the number of causes he champions, he has coined the all en compassing term “equal rights” activist for himself. A fierce activist for the rights of the subalterns, for the past twenty years Harish has fought for sexual assault survivors and against gender bias discrimination. He is also the recipient of the Zindagi Live Award and the Bharat Award for his work with survivors of sexual assault. On 29 June 2013, The Guardian, the British national daily named him in the list of the 100 most influential LGBT people in the world for 2013 and the only Indian on the list. His life inspired two films, director Onir's I Am and Ranadeep Bhattacharya and Judhajit Bagchi directed Amen. In I Am, Actor Sanjay Suri plays Abhimanyu, a child sexual abuse survivor, the character inspired by Harish's life and that of Hyderabad based fashion designer Ganesh Nallari. He is an ardent animal rights activist, naming his non-profit organisation “The Jimmy Foundation’ after his adorable pooch Jimmy. Given the number of causes he champions, he has coined the all en compassing term “equal rights” activist for himself. A fierce activist for the rights of the subalterns, for the past twenty years Harish has fought for sexual assault survivors and against gender bias discrimination. He is also the recipient of the Zindagi Live Award and the Bharat Award for his work with survivors of sexual assault.
On 29 June 2013, The Guardian, the British national daily named him in the list of the 100 most influential LGBT people in the world for 2013 and the only Indian on the list. His life inspired two films, director Onir's I Am and Ranadeep Bhattacharya and Judhajit Bagchi directed Amen. In I Am, Actor Sanjay Suri plays Abhimanyu, a child sexual abuse survivor, the character inspired by Harish's life and that of Hyderabad based fashion designer Ganesh Nallari.
He is an ardent animal rights activist, naming his non-profit organisation “The Jimmy Foundation’ after his adorable pooch Jimmy. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx