Iyer engages in advocacy for a number of causes,[2][3] including promoting the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, children, women and survivors of child sexual abuse.

He has written articles and letters on the subject and appeared on top national television news shows to highlight the plight of the LGBT community in India in wake of the decision.

[8] Iyer was featured on Indian movie star Aamir Khan's talk show Satyamev Jayate in an episode on the issue of child sexual abuse.

[11] In March 2015, Harish wrote a moving eulogy to his dear friend and Kolkata Park Street rape survivor Suzette Jordan after she succumbed to meningoencephalitis.

(Sensitivity in True Action) Sena campaign to condemn the attack on women in a Bangalore pub by the right wing socio-political group Sri Ram Sene.

In I Am, the actor Sanjay Suri plays Abhimanyu, a child sexual abuse survivor, a character inspired by Harish's life[19] and that of Hyderabad-based fashion designer Ganesh Nallari.

A book by Payal Shah Karwa called The Bad Touch featuring the biographic account of Iyer has been published.

Other prominent speakers at the same event included Robert De Niro, Amitabh Bachchan, A R Rahman, Shekhar Kapur, Girish Karnad and Medha Patkar.