As a Hindu expert, or priest, who focuses on the LGBTQ population, Sushma Dwivedi is a rarity in the marriage industry. “It is almost impossible to find an expert woman here in the United States,” she said. “As far as I know, there are less than 10, and none of them cater to the gay and transgender community.”
In 2016, Ms. Dwivedi founded the Purple expert project in New York City, which offers a variety of “progressive, inclusive, LGBTQ + compatible” religious services such as baby names, housewarming and commercial blessings to people “straight, gay, having interracial marriages, or simply wishing for a expert woman ”. So far, she has officiated at 33 weddings, almost half of which have been for same-sex couples.
Ms. Dwivedi, 40, also works full time as vice president of communications and brand marketing at Daily Harvest, a subscription organic food company. She grew up in Canada and now lives in Harlem with her husband, Vivek Jindal, 37, chief investment officer of Kore, a wealth management platform in New York City, and their two sons, Ashwin, 5, and Nayan, 3. years.
Why did you get interested in arbitration?
In 2013, I was getting married and we had a classic Indian wedding with 250 people and had two different events: one at the Hotel Nelligan located in the middle of the Old Port, and the other at the Loft, both in Montreal. My husband’s brother is trans, and it became apparent that if they wanted to get married, there wouldn’t be an expert who would. It is not yet culturally accepted.