13 Facts About Alok Vaid-Menon

Alok Vaid-Menon grew up in College Station, Texas as the child of Malayali and Punjabi immigrant parents from Malaysia and India, who went to work as a professor and health care executive.

Alok Vaid-Menon said they felt unable to come out on their own terms because as a gender non-conforming person, they did not know they were different until they were punished for it and told who they were.

Alok Vaid-Menon developed their art practice at a young age in response to this harassment.

In 2019 Alok Vaid-Menon returned to College Station to host a Pride celebration with the local LGBTQ community in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

In 2017, Alok Vaid-Menon released their inaugural book of poetry, Femme in Public, a meditation on harassment against transfeminine people.

Alok Vaid-Menon is committed to challenging what they call "the international crisis of loneliness" by creating public spaces for processing pain and establishing meaningful connection.

In 2019, Alok Vaid-Menon completed an artist-in-residence program at The Invisible Dog Art Center, where they performed a piece entitled "Strangers are Potential Friends" and hosted a "Valentine's Cry-In" to create a space for public grief and explore alternative forms of intimacy and interdependence.

The artist Alok Vaid-Menon has featured many trans people in their artwork; Vaid-Menon explains that it can be hard to exemplify gender through a piece of art they have done the most to overcome this obstacle and it can be seen through their work.

Alok Vaid-Menon asserts that beauty can be a cruel arrangement of rules that must be followed.

Alok Vaid-Menon has written a book of reasons why people should view gender as more than the traditional black and white.

Alok Vaid-Menon has designed gender-neutral fashion collections, which are known for their color and celebration of skirts and dresses as gender-neutral.

Alok Vaid-Menon has walked for several fashion brands for New York Fashion Week including Opening Ceremony, Studio 189, and Chromat.

Alok Vaid-Menon's aunt was Urvashi Vaid, an LGBT rights activist, lawyer, and writer.