“I hate to break it to you, world, but you don’t have to wait for the party. You don’t have to wait for Fashion Week. You get to have fun now. You get to be free now, and that now gets to be forever.” Not every comedian can authoritatively preach on embracing inner truths and dismantling gender stereotypes… then have you in stitches with a witty one-liner.
But not every comedian is Alok Vaid-Menon. Or as they’re better known to their 1.3 million followers: simply, ALOK.
The 32-year-old non-binary performer, activist, and internet personality is well known amongst the LGBTQ+ community for their compelling work, but this year has brought them –– and their trailblazing beliefs –– to the mainstream. Not only are they featured amongst other gender non-conforming comics in Netflix’s Gender Agenda, but they’re the subject of documentary short ALOK, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and was executive produced by Jodie Foster.
A lot has been made of the transfeminine Indian American’s bold views on body diversity, gender neutrality, and colorful wardrobe. But when asked to define themselves, they told Afar: “Artist feels like the only word I’ve ever chosen to call myself. My creative project is to end the international crisis of loneliness.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Alok grew up alongside their parents, who immigrated from Malaysia and India, in College Station, Texas, where they were bullied for being different.
“I started writing poems when I was 11 or 12, and they saved my life,” they told Afar. “They showed me that beauty was still possible –– despite everything.” Armed with artwork and performance as means of expression, they headed to Stanford University where they earned both their BA and Masters.
Perhaps the activism spirit is in their blood; Alok’s aunt was the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Urvashi Vaid, the “first woman of color to lead a national gay-and-lesbian organization” and an anti-racist activist.
Alok’s laundry list of accomplishments is exhaustive: spreads in the likes of Vogue and Paper, New York Fashion Week appearances, their own transfemme fashion collections, a stint as the first-ever LGBTQ+ Scholar in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania. Not to mention their own book Beyond the Gender Binary and enlightening public speaking gigs, including a conversation with Jamie Lee Curtis at the 2023 Upfront Summit.
It’s no understatement when Alok quipped, in a 2023 standup set, “According to your favorite publications, I’ve been an up-and-coming artist for the past decade.”
Nevertheless, Alok’s fight for trans liberation –– especially at a time when conservative lawmakers are attempting to “punish trans people for having the audacity to be beautiful in a world that would rather us be banal” –– isn’t nearly as flashy as their stunning looks.
As they told New York Times, “I’m fighting for trans ordinariness.” While critics use nebulous terms like the “trans agenda” to spread harmful rhetoric about members of the queer community, Alok explains that it’s much less about their gender than it is “the ability to exist in public without the fear of being physically assaulted.”
“I don’t even think about my gender most of the time,” they said. “I am thinking about basic things like what am I going to eat for lunch –– one of humanity’s greatest existential questions!”
This summer, they’ll be bringing a splash of color as they traverse both North America and Europe with their standup show. Despite the political exhaustion (and a sea of hate comments they’ve trained themself to address with love and empathy), it’s art and connection that helps Alok continue to find hope. Just like it did when they were a wee Texas tween.
“What art teaches us is that beauty will forever be more powerful than violence, and that beauty is anti-violence,” they told Indiewire. “Please give yourself permission to be a little bit more beautiful … I believe beauty is a gravitational force that roots us back in everything that matters.”
