Ancient India, the land of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Tantra, the land that birthed plenty of religions, spiritual quests and philosophical journeys, also generated several LGBTQ+ tales that were deliberately hidden when preaching the New-Age Hinduism.

Stories featuring gods cross-dressing to transgender gods and goddesses, from gender fluid deities to sex reassignment surgeries, and even intersex deities, our Indian ancestors were very accommodating towards the fluidity of one's sexuality and gender expressions. Not only did they ensure a safe haven for expression, they also invested in writing novels so as to educate the general public about these crucial theories.

Join me as I revisit these tales, temples, sculptures and artworks and bring them to light and normalize conversations regarding sexuality and gender expressions.  

About Nixi: 

Our event host is Nishita Rao is a cis-gender, heterosexual, androphilic Indian woman, a sexual assault survivor with 9 years of experience as a BIPOC sex educator. She has an MSc. in Neurosciences with a concentration in Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, a background in Genetics, and is pursuing the Holistic Sexuality Educator Certificate Program at the Institute for Sexuality Education and Enlightenment, an approved organizational provider of CE’s by The American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT). Nishita is also being trained by the U.S. Department of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) on Trauma-informed Brain Development.

Our tech support person and event angel for the evening will be Jamie Love, Sex Positive World's Executive Director, zooming in from Portland Oregon. She enjoys supporting conversations about sex positivity worldwide.