Srishti Madurai was established on 2 September 2011 by Gopi Shankar Madurai as the first genderqueer and LGBT student volunteer group designed to address the problems of LGBT people in the non-metro cities of Tamil Nadu.[1][2][3] In October 2011 Srishti Madurai launched India's first helpline for intersex, genderqueer, and LGBT people at Madurai. In June 2013 the helpline turned to offer service for 24 hours with a tagline "Just having someone understanding to talk to can save a life".[4] Srishti Madurai also organized Asia's first Genderqueer Pride Parade at Madurai.[5]
Srishti Madurai coined the regional Tamil terms for genderqueer people[6] and published Maraikkappatta Pakkangal, the first book[7] on gender-variants in Tamil.[8] On 22 April 2019 the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench) passed a landmark judgment[9] and issued direction to ban sex-selective surgeries on intersex infants while referring work of Srishti Madurai.[10] The Court took note of the rampant practice of compulsory sex reassignment surgeries performed on intersex infants and children.[11][12]
