Roopban is a non-political, not-for-profit volunteer-based forum in Bangladesh. It started as a magazine with the key slogan Right to Love to give voice to the invisible and ignored LGBTQ population. Since its inception, it arranged various community-based events like the Rainbow Rally (to celebrate friendship and diversity), Pink Slip (health awareness camp), Roopbaan Film Festival, and SNS-Roopbaan Transition Show. Roopbaan also actively took part in the BOB-Roopbaan Need Assessment Survey of the LGBTQ population in seven divisions of Bangladesh.

The most exciting characteristic of this forum is the name. A story is attached to the word 'Roopbaan,' which means a fabulous person, someone with good looks. There is a Bangladeshi myth that talks about a 12-year-old girl being married to an older man. When she matured, he got much older, but the love lasted forever, and they lived a content-loving life. The part where age does not matter is essential for every Roopbaan member. The idea of a female character being in a tie with an older person is vital to emphasize here, as Roopbaan members believe in no age discrimination.

Since Roopbaan involves a small number of volunteers, there is a lot of room for distraction when working together under one roof because of relational concerns and sexual attraction toward each other. For the workshop, the focus was to keep the personal and professional aspects of life separate when performing in a professional setting. 

Youth Leadership Program was a one-of-a-kind program targeted to the youth aged 16-24 years. It was a two-day workshop/training program covering issues of gender and sexuality, health and fitness, social and legal barriers, leadership and volunteerism, style and fashion, and safe networking that affected the lives of the target group.

I conducted a therapy-based workshop titled Exploring Leadership that focused on providing tools to help youth become attuned to their identities and how they can become leaders in their respective communities. There was an array of works produced by the Roopbaan community, as seen in the photographs below.

** Due to the privacy of the space and clients, photography was not allowed; hence no workshop images are displayed.