Alok Vaid-Menon is a gender non-conforming and transfeminine American author, poet, mixed-media performance artist, and activist. ALOK—used as a mononym—uses writing, live performance, and fashion as a way of expressing views on gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity. Born to Indian immigrant parents, ALOK grew up—and was bullied on account of race and gender—in College Station, Texas, and later graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in feminist, gender, and sexuality studies from Stanford University. Urvashi Vaid, an India-born American feminist, and LGBTQ+ rights activist, is Alok’s aunt. ALOK has been given the GLAAD Media Award and the Stonewall Foundation Visionary Award.