Parvez Sharma

Diversity speaker Parvez Sharma is the director of the critically-acclaimed documentary, “A Jihad for Love.” An Indian-born, gay Muslim, Sharma presents his wide-ranging experiences that have spanned Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, and provided audiences with a rich cultural journey. His film, supported by 22 foundations and the Sundance Documentary Fund, seeks to give a voice to the GLBT community in the Muslim world by focusing on the lives of gay Muslims, and the difficulties they face in Islamic countries, and within their own religion. A moving portrayal of the struggle for acceptance, A Jihad for Love, opens audience’s eyes to a new perspective.

A gay rights speaker, activist, and accomplished writer, Parvez published the first article in a major Indian newspaper to report on lesbianism in that country. Sharma continues to write about issues concerning both homosexuality and Islam for The Huffington Post.