This week to celebrate pride month, I will be highlighting queer Asian American creative Alok Menon, a gender fluid and internationally recognized author, poet, comedian, and fashion icon. Alok’s work aims around deconstructing the gender binary, and is widely known for their creation of the #DeGenderFashion movement. Through their work, Alok advocates for the rights of transgender and non-binary individuals, challenging heteronormative instutions, and examining historical influences on modern norms. Their work is intersectional, and highlights the experiences of queer Desi Americans, and other queer POC. On their instagram you can find different educational “Book Reports,” examining and challenging intersections of gender, heteronormativity, and race. A few examples are “The history of fashion and the gender binary,” “The racist history of IQ tests,” “The racist history of body hair removal in the US,” and many more.
Alok is the perfect example of how trans and non-conforming queer people of color are on the front lines of the queer movement, in dismantling heteronormative and patriarchal structures.
