Vishal Pinjani

Some Lesser Known Facts About Vishal Pinjani

• Vishal Pinjani is an Indian LGBTIQA activist, TEDx speaker, poet, and actor. He earned the title of Mr Gay India on 5 October 2023.

• In November 1999, he set up a bookstore named ‘Granth’ in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. His shop has been visited by several celebrities, including Soha Ali Khan, Farah Khan, and Aditya Srivastava.

  

• He created a self-titled YouTube channel in 2012 and started posting motivational videos and videos related to empowering the LGBTQIA community on the channel. His first video on the channel was titled ‘How to be Happy,’ which he posted in 2020.

• He established an NGO named ‘Abhimaan’ in November 2017. Through the organisation, he helps and supports the LGBTQIA+ community in his hometown and the Maharashtra state. He often organises workshops and events at different places to spread awareness about gender studies and LGBTQIA+ rights.

  

• In an interview, he disclosed that he made the decision to establish the organization ‘Abhimaan’ after several suicides occurred among gay individuals in his hometown.

• He began working as an excellence coach in March 2020.

• Vishal Pinjani has worked as an actor in the Indian gay web series ‘The Visitor’ (2021), which premiered on the YouTube channel ‘Nakshatra Bagwe.’ Later, he also appeared in season 2 (2022) and season 3 (2023) of the web series.

  

• He took part in the beauty pageant ‘Mr Gay World India 2023,’ which was hosted in Pune on 5 October 2023. He was crowned ‘Mr Gay India’ in the pageant.

  

• After winning the title, in an interview, he said that the title would help him highlight the issues faced by the gay men in rural areas. He 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.”

• Vishal Pinjani has also earned the title of ‘Mr Gay Maharashtra 2023.’

• On 27 October 2023, he represented India in the beauty pagent ‘Mr Gay World,’ which was hosted in Cape Town, South Africa.

• He has a  passion for writing poetry and often attends poet’s meeting and literary festivals.

  

• During a speech at Josh Talks, he revealed that when he was in school, he was bullied by his seniors because of his girly behavior. He further said that when he reached the age of 16, he decided to disclose his sexual orientation to his parents and spread knowledge about different gender identities among the public.

• He is a fitness freak and follows a strict workout regimen.

  

• He was frequently seen consuming alcohol at different occasions.