Vishal Pinjani from Kolhapur has been crowned Mr Gay India 2023 and will now be representing the country at the Mr Gay World beauty pageant to be held in Cape Town, South Africa on 27 October 2023.
Pinjani runs a community-based organization called Abhimaan and was inarguably a favorite of his extensive engagement with community-related issues in his hometown and the state. Vishal said, “Through this pageant, I would get a chance to highlight the issues of gay men in rural India as issues of the LGBTQ community are often perceived as only urban issues”.
A 25-year-old software developer, Abhishek Jayadeep, hailing from Thrissur in Kerala who now works in Pune, was the other finalist. He had won the first ever title of Mr Gay, Kerala. Abhishek opened up about the difficulties, “I came out to my family only this year and some of my friends were even shy to promote me in public. That is the level of stigma we face”.
Vishal Pinjani of Kolhapur crowned Mr Gay India, will now compete for World title https://t.co/S2xSkJtzLd
— LGBTQ India News (@LgbtqIndia) October 6, 2023
Manvendra Singh Gohil, the first openly gay prince in India was the chief guest of honor, he said, “These kind of events are important because it helps bring people of the Indian (LGBTQ+) community on the global platform and represent not just themselves but Indian culture itself”.
The event was evaluated by the panel including Shaym Konnur, Andy Brave, Sonali Dalvi, Ankita Mehra, Chaitanya Gokhale, Sweta Mantrii, and Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil. The event was organized by the Pune-based MIST Foundation founded by Shyam Konnur, who himself was the Mr Gay India 2020, the event had been going on an online platform for almost a month.
Speaking at the event, lesbian activist Ankita Mehra addressed the importance of equity in the representation of the community. “Gay men are often more represented than lesbian women or trans women and trans men are even fewer so equity is quite important to work towards”.
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