Krishna Omkar is a globally recognised thought leader on stakeholder capitalism, purpose, impact, ESG, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, spoke at the annual Be the Change panel discussion on 27 April at the House of Commons, organised by Asian Voice in association with the RAF.
In 2023, the UK and Indian governments named him one of 75 recipients of the UK-India Achievers Honours to mark 75 years of India's independence. Krishna was awarded a 2019 Asian Achievers Award and named 2018 Role Model of the Year by Stonewall.
Describing the status of the LGBTQ community across the world and the challenges faced, Omkar said, “I'm very involved with the activists from all around the world.
“But I think what people don't realise is the example of India. We're working on the marriage equality campaign. It was decriminalised in 2018. That's the starting point. We're now asking for basic equal rights – and not asking for something special. People don't realise this because of the way the structures of society work.
“So, the one thing that we must do is shift the conversation and how do we challenge the injustice? And how do we change the structure? So, if you ask me, what's the state of LGBTQ rights now? I would say, that, we have all many rights in the UK, that a vast majority of LGBTQ people around the world don't have.”
Not a zero-sum game
Omkar however said that this is not a zero-sum game. According to him, the fight for women's rights is also affected by the fight for same-sex marriage and vice versa. “If you see what happened in the US with this huge pushback on women's rights, that's also an LGBTQ issue! Because those are the bundles of rights that come together. It's also racist because women of colour are much less likely to have access to rights than whites. For example, if you're a Queer woman of colour, that becomes even more complicated. So, these silos are not very helpful and am keen to try and change the conversation about diversity and equity inclusion.
“The LGBTQ community is doing well in this country, compared to other countries, but all ethnic minorities aren't doing well. Even for some just the term, is quite problematic because all ethnic minorities are not the same.”
