2017 was a hard year for the LGBTQ+ community, especially for those who are from immigrant families. But people like Alok Vaid-Menon support and encourage honesty and openness in the face of fear and resentment. Alok, an Indian American “performance artist, writer, educator, and entertainer,” is also gender non-conforming, which can make some people on social media uneasy, to put it mildly. But Alok’s beauty shows in a strength despite obstacles, with nearly 100K Instagram followers who revel in their wild and colorful fashions, with thoughtful captions accompanying each post. Alok even released a chapbook of poetry in March 2017, Femme in Public, believing that "artists have the ability to create and practice the type of world we are fighting for with our craft."