Sumathi Murthy is an Indian Hindustani classical vocalist, composer and LGBT right activist based in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. She hails from the Agra gharana of singing. She identifies herself as a queer.

Music career

She started performing from the age of 12 years. She received her training in music from

Pandit Ramarao Naik A Pandit ( sa, पण्डित, paṇḍit; hi, पंडित; also spelled Pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt.) is a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge whether it is shashtra (Holy Books) or shastra (Wea ...

for 17 years. She has been involved in a project called Sakhiri with Dr. Floy which consisted of a multi media show of mixing genders, electronics, visual images, poetry and music. She worked as a composer, singer and lyric writer in this project.

Queer activism

In 2006, she formed a support group for female-born queer people named LesBiT. She and

Sunil Menon Sunil (सुनील) is a first name for males, often found in the South Asian community. The Sanskrit word ' means "dark", "very blue", and is also an epithet of Krishna. Notable people * Sunil (actor), Indian Telugu film actor * Sunil (d ...

have been doing an oral history project to share the stories of queer people. They have collectively written the book ''Towards Gender Inclusivity'' which focuses on female-born gender and sexual minorities in south India. Murthy was also featured in the documentary Breaking Free, which talked about the LGBTQ community and the impact of the controversial Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.

Publications

* ''Towards Gender Inclusivity: A Study on Contemporary Concerns around Gender'' (with Sunil Mohan)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murthy, Sumathi Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Indian women classical musicians Queer women Indian LGBT musicians Musicians from Bangalore