Shreegauri Sawant

Sawant was born as Ganesh and raised in Pune. Her mother died when she was seven years old and she was raised by her grandmother. Her father is a police officer. She left her house at the age of 14 or 15 as she didn’t want to be a disappointment for her dad.

Work History :

Gauri founded the Sakhi Char Chowghi Trust in 2000. The NGO promotes safe sex and provides counselling to transgender people. In 2014, she became the first transgender person to file a petition in the Supreme Court of India for adoption rights of transgender people. She was a petitioner in the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) case in which the Supreme Court recognised transgender as the third gender. Gauri adopted a girl named Gayatri in 2008 after Gayatri’s mother died of AIDS.

Achievements :

In 2017, Gauri was featured in an ad by Vicks. The ad was part of Vicks’ ‘Touch of Care’ campaign and showed the story of Gauri and her adopted daughter. A TV series named Taali on JioCinema featuring Sushmita Sen in the role of Gauri Sawant.

Industry Recognition :

First transgender election ambassador for 2019 Loksabha Election Selected by Election Commission of India.’

‘First transgender to file a petition in the Supreme Court for adoption rights of transgenders and was also a petitioner in the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) case in which the Supreme Court recognised ‘transgender’ as the third gender.’

Aim of life: To protect and enhance the rights of transgenders. To save the girlchildren from human trafficking. Work for society welfare.

Present Work Area: Founder Trustee of Sai Savli Foundation Trust • Working for the Project AAJI CHA GHAR -A safe home for abandoned senior transgenders and girl children of prostitutes.

Working for project SWAYAM SIDDHA – Empowering Transgenders. Making them self-supportive and earnable for livelihood.