Seven videos that give hope for LGBTI rights around the world

Transgender hijras in India: Hum hain happy – 6 Pack Band

India’s first transgender band, 6 Pack Band, released a cover of Pharrell’s Happy, raising awareness for and celebrating the country’s transgender community, hijras. In 2014, India’s supreme court recognised a third gender, but there’s still widespread discrimination against hijras, they often live in poverty on the fringes of society. Despite this, the video shows “they keep their chin up and find a way to simply be, happy”. 

What it’s like to be intersex

There is still a global lack of awareness and acceptance of people with intersex traits. Activists are only just starting to speak out and share their experiences of discrimination. AIS-DSD Support Group made this video to tell other intersex people: “You’re worthy. You are loveable. Your body is beautiful.” 

Pink Dot Singapore: Where love lives

Homosexual sex is illegal in Singapore thanks to British colonial era law, Section 377a, which was upheld in 2014. Since 2009 the LGBT rights advocates have celebrated “the freedom to love” at an annual Pink Dot festival. Political protest is restricted in Singapore, but each year more and more people gather at Speakers’ Corner to show support for LGBT rights – last year 28,000 turned up dressed in pink and “formed a gigantic human pink dot after nightfall”. 

This is what LGBT life is like around the world – Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazols

Lesbian couple Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazols left their home in San Francisco to travel to 15 countries across Africa, Asia and South America to find inspiring LGBT activists. They documented their journey in a film, Out and Around and were invited to record a TED talk on what they learned. “There are some tragedies that happen in the bumpy road to inequality,” says Chang. “But there are also stories of hope and courage in every corner of the world. What we ultimately took away from our journey is that equality is not a western invention.” 

LGBT Rights UAE – Let’s talk

Same-sex acts are illegal and punishable by prison in the United Arab Emirates, but LGBT Rights UAE is an NGO striving to raise awareness that LGBT individuals do exist in UAE and deserve the same rights as everyone else. They call for the Emirati society to have an open discussion about “what it’s like to be different”. 

Tchindas in Cape Verde

A 2015 documentary follows a community of trans women in Cape Verde. The archipelago of São Vicente was home to Tchinda Andrade, a respected trans woman whose name has become the term used by Cape Verdeans for trans women. The film-makers wanted to show a positive side to LGBT rights in Africa. 

Minority – Shishani

Namibian-born singer-songwriter Shishani uses music to promote equality.Homosexuality is criminalised in Namibia, and LGBT people can experience discrimination on a daily basis. Shishani has never hidden her sexual orientation, and in her song Minority, she argues for equal rights no matter who you are: “Every minority has a priority, we want to be equally free.”