Her father, Group Captain Dr KR Gopalan, was an officer in the Indian Air Force; her Punjabi mother was a homemaker.

"[9] Gopalan collaborated with community-based organizations in New York City,[4] assisting migrants from Southeast Asia without valid documentation.

[12] The same year, she founded the Naz Foundation (India) Trust, an organization focused on supporting LGBT individuals and children affected by HIV.

In 2001, Gopalan’s organization, Naz Foundation, filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalized homosexuality.

[14] When I started working in the 1990s on addressing rights of gay men, I never thought that I would be sitting in a place like Madurai and discussing about LGBT issues, I feel very ecstatic.

The Chennai-based Manava Seva Dharma Samvardhani presented her with the Sadguru Gnanananda Award in 2003 for her work in supporting those living with HIV/AIDS.

The first award was received by V. Mayilvaganan and V. Narayanswamy from The Times of India for highlighting issues regarding genderqueer people and Santhi Soundarajan.