Anjali Gopalan (she/her) is a human rights and animal rights activist, founder and executive director of The Naz Foundation (India) Trust, an NGO dedicated to the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in India. Under her leadership, Naz filed a PIL in 2001 for the decriminalisation of homosexuality and reading down of Sec.377 of the IPC.
Speaking with a lifetime of experience in care work and advocacy, Anjali Gopalan describes in this interview, her work and the long term nature of it. First in response to the series of 377 judgements and then in relation to HIV prevention work, she narrates stories both miserable and hopeful. Remembering her mother’s experience of Partition, Gopalan then talks at length about the importance of living one’s beliefs and engaging continuously with those who do not wish to engage.
From her work with running a children’s shelter, to her everyday practise of a zero waste lifestyle, she explains what it means to not be a “big picture” person. Finally, speaking of individuals with inherited HIV, Gopalan points to the importance of love and relationships in everyone’s lives, emphasising however, on building trust and honesty.
Date: 16th October, 2019
Interviewee(s): Anjali Gopalan
Interviewer(s): T. Jayashree and Deeptha Rao
Camera: T. Jayashree
Place of interview: Anjali Gopalan’s residence, New Delhi
Format: Video, Audio, Text
Original file type: .pdf, .mov, .mp3, .jpeg
Extent: 13 pages, 00:59:39s
Language: English
Rights holder: QAMRA
Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Credit line: Courtesy of Queer Archive for Memory, Reflection, and Activism.
Physical location:
HD Info:
[00:00:00—00:16:17] The Johar Verdict – before and after
Response to 2009, 2013 and 2018. Continuation of advocacy and the helpline. Still a need for safe spaces. Changing political climate and need to assess context before demanding more rights.
[00:16:17—00:23:08] Work with HIV Prevention
Entry to activism. Sense of loss and abandonment. Learning not to judge. Learning to value oneself. Recent lack of funding and narrative of HIV being over. Rising number of cases among young gay men.
[00:23:08—00:31:04] “It happened on both sides”
Story of grandparents and Partition. Mother’s beliefs and living with them.
[00:31:04—00:41:07] Care work and Staying Power
Meeting wonderful people through work. Bureaucrats and other people who make change possible. Need to view things in the long term. Impact of social media. Work with the childrens’ shelter, CWC. Carework as inevitably lifelong.
[00:41:07—00:56:25] Environmental activism
Running an animal shelter. Organic farming and everyday changes. Not being a big picture person.
[00:56:25—01:05:20] Mental Health and hope
Generational HIV. Relationships, love and honesty.
The audio file, transcript and original video footage of this interview are available on request. To access these please write to us at qamraarchive@nls.ac.in.
Cite as: Gopalan, Anjali interviewed by T. Jayashree and Deeptha Rao on 16th October, 2019. T. Jayashree Video Collection, QAMRA, Transcript TJAV01.031.