They call him Amma, ‘the mother of the gay community’, and unlike other ‘mothers’ in this country, he says, it’s a title he’s earned. He was the first Indian man to ever publicly declare his homosexuality.He is a living legend and the most respected journalist and an icon !! Ashok Row Kavi is the first man to publicly come out as gay in India way back in 1984, and in the over 30 years since, his life has been a rollercoaster of controversy that eventually brought him to the doorstep of the Supreme Court in 2018.Row Kavi, who founded the Mumbai-based LGBT rights NGO Humsafar Trust in 1994, is one of the many who have petitioned for the removal of Section 377, which criminalises homosexuality. With the support of a liberal family, he founded Bombay Dost, India’s first LGBT magazine in 1990. Early editions looked more like newspapers, but were sold at premium prices of Rs 15 or more by dealers — an MRP that exceeded even the mainstream film glossies such as . Ashok Row Kavi had finally arrived in Bombay.  Along with a diploma in religion and comparative theology from Ramakrishna, he also has a bachelors and masters in Chemistry from the University of Bombay. But the sciences didn’t hold Row Kavi for long, as he dropped out of college to pursue a career in journalism that spanned over 18 years. Along with big names such as The Indian Express, The Week, and the Free Press Journal, Row Kavi also started India’s first men’s magazine with his friend Anthony Van Braband in 1971. Called Debonair, the magazine would become famous for its topless female centrefolds.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.