Intersex Activist Gopi Shankar Madurai Among Invitees For Narendra Modi’s Swearing-In Ceremony

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in for a historic third time on the evening of 9 June 2024. The list of invitees to the swearing-in ceremony had been very inclusive. Alongside political figures, representatives from the film and sports industries, business leaders, and other notable individuals, Modi has invited several special guests. These include beneficiaries of central government schemes, members of the transgender community, labourers from the Central Vista project, sanitation workers, and railway employees involved in key projects like the Vande Bharat trains and the Metro.

Additionally, members of the diverse SOGIESC (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Expression, and Sex Characteristics) community, including intersex individuals, were invited to witness the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This marked the first time in Indian political history that the most marginalized group from this community was extended such an invitation.

Among those invited was intersex activist Gopi Shankar Madurai, who had previously been appointed as the first intersex statutory authority by the Modi-led government. Expressing his excitement, Gopi, speaking to The New Indian Express, stated “I feel great; I feel delighted to be a part of the historical event. I really have no words to describe it. So far no PM, after independence has invited an Intersex person like me to attend a swearing-in ceremony. This is for the first time, history will be made. I feel blessed; I also feel blessed to have Modi as PM of India,” 

Gopi expressed hope that during Modi’s upcoming tenure, the government would officially recognize the existence of intersex individuals in India by including them in the census and regulate medical interventions performed on intersex infants to align their bodies with binary gender norms.

The swearing-in ceremony witnessed over 8,000 invitees attending it at Rashtrapathi Bhavan This also marked a significant step towards inclusivity and representation for the diverse SOGIESC community in India.

(with inputs from The New Indian Express)

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