On Monday, Menaka Guruswamy made history by becoming India’s first openly queer Member of Parliament after taking her oath in the Rajya Sabha. Nominated by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), she is a senior advocate and a prominent advocate for LGBTQ rights. Guruswamy was instrumental in the landmark case that led to the decriminalization of same-sex relations in India when Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was struck down in 2018. She began her legal career in 1997 under former Attorney General Ashok Desai and later pursued advanced studies at Oxford and Harvard. In 2019, she was recognized as one of the 100 most influential Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine. The oath-taking ceremony also included nineteen newly elected members, with significant representation from states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, and was attended by key figures including Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan.