“Egypt is a conservative country. Most of the humans’ rights activists have left the country or even committed suicide” In this episode, we speak to a gay Egyptian activist who wishes to remain anonymous. He shares his life with us and experiences being part of the LGBTQ community. His life is difficult in Egypt; he has no support from his family, only from close friends as there are no safe places for the members of the LGBTQ community, or the police are hunting them. Listen to his story to...

“A lot of people lost their jobs during the lockdown and were forced to go back to live with abusive and toxic people / family. I was using my own money to help whoever needed some support” In this episode, we speak to Raven (She/Her) a trans woman living in Barbados. Raven is the founder of Butterfly Trans Barbados, the only registered trans aid organisation in Barbados. The organisation focuses on helping people with access to health care, education, and employment, and helping people with...

“Now that the Lockdown is over, we are trying to recapture that sense of community and provide people with some support network that may have been lost during the Pandemic” In this episode, we speak to Billie (She/Her) a trans woman from the Cayman Islands. Billie is the founder of Colours Caribbean, an LGBTQ organisation in the Cayman Islands. Colours Caribbean encourages dialogue, gets people talking about the issues surrounding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and...

“At the end, hate is something that we learn to receive and learn to give, a lot of rejection is based on prejudice, with no scientific evidence – its just myths” In this episode, we meet Daniel (He/His) living as a gay man in Guatemala. He is a cofound of an organization called Visibles and is working on rights for LGBTQ people through education and research. Daniel talks about the different cultures mixed in Guatemala and the views of the indigenous people towards LGBTQ people. Read below...

“While at the moment we do feel safe, the uncertainty comes from what is written in the law so there is the fear that may use it as their basis and purpose for acting upon it” In this episode, we speak to friends Serena (She/Her) a transgender woman, and Naz (She/Her) a lesbian woman, both from Brunei.  As a predominantly Muslim nation known for its anti-LGBT laws, Serena and Naz give us a first-hand account of what life is like in Brunei for the LGBT community. While life is anything but...

“For someone growing up in the Northeast especially, although there are still people who do hold very traditional ideas of sexuality and gender, the world is so much bigger than a little town or city in the northeast” In this episode, we speak to Safeenah (she/her) a bisexual woman living in the United Kingdom. Safeenah chats to us about her experience in coming out in the Northeast of England, the interplay between racism and homophobia and the impacts, and about her own interest and...

“I grew up in a really hostile environment towards LGBTQ people, we were seen like perverts and paedophiles” In this episode, we speak to Jean (She/Her) from Singapore. Jean has been an activist for 35 years and has her own organisation to help LGBTQ women.  Jean also tells her about her life growing up in Singapore and how it has changed over the years for LGBTQ people. Read below to hear more about her story: “I am from Singapore, I started doing activist work when I was in school. When...

“People in South Korea do not want to be different or individuals, it is almost shocking to see how people want to think the same way” In this episode, we speak to Kyu (He/Him) a gay man from South Korea. Kyu talks about his time living as a gay man in his nation-state as well as the USA and Moscow. He speaks to us about his own personal during and the barriers and resistance for the LGBTQ community in South Korea. Read below to hear more about him: “Being a homosexual is not illegal in...

“We cannot have peace in Iraq if we are not even talking about the injustice to LGBTQ people” In this episode, we speak to Hazan (They/Them) a gay person from Iraq. Hazan now lives in Germany and speaks about a program that they have created to educate others on discrimination towards LGBTQ. Hazan also talks about their own personal journey from living in Iraq and moving to Germany. Read below to hear more about them: “I am from Iraq, but I am currently living in Germany. I leave Iraq...

“Even if they wanted to accept me, they can’t accept me because they are strong believers in their religion and culture” In this episode, we speak to BA (He/Him) a gay man from Saudi Arabia. BA talks to us about the barriers and resistance in Saudi Arabia and his own personal journey moving from his nation-state. Read below to hear more about him: “I was born in a conservative household and realised I was a homosexual from around 7/8 years old. My family do not know about me being...

"It is a constant barrage of bombardment on your self-identity." In this episode we speak to Jason (He/Him) a gay man from Trinidad Tobago. Jason speaks about his life in Tobago and how he has been a victim to physical and verbal abuse due to his sexuality. Jason talks about the barriers and resistance and how he has overcome them himself. Read below to hear more about him: ‘My country is quite diverse is in multiculturalism and its people and where I am from there is no protection to be...

“There has to be a more social awareness campaign with regards to adults. You can’t only focus on the youth because if you look at the crimes : adults are predominantly the roots of it”. In this episode we speak to Waseem one of the first South African openly gay Muslim broadcaster, activist. He talks about his outing to his parents, his family and the issues he faced being an openly gay Muslim. Read below to hear more about him: “ When you are in a facility that specializes in LGBTQIA,...

“The main advice to transgender people in Russia is to not lose hope! “ In this episode we speak with Konstantin a transgender man, a people rights activist in Russia and website designer. Konstantin is talking about his life in a village, how unsafe situations forced him, like many other people in Russia to move from the place where he was living to a safer city. He tells us about his activism and all the issues that sexual and gender minority people are facing in Russia. Read below to hear...

‘My mother believes being with a woman will change things’. In this episode we speak to Shameel (He/Him) a gay man from Pakistani. Shameel talks to us about his life in Pakistani and how his family feel about his homosexuality. We also discussed the barriers in Pakistani and also the support groups that are there to help people from different sexual and gender minorities. Read below to hear more about him: ‘I’m 31 years old, I am currently studying my masters in Germany. I first came out to...

‘I do not believe we should fight the government physically, but we should challenge them legally, we have to sensitise the masses’. In this episode we speak to Ify (He/Him) a gay man from Nigeria. Ify discusses the barriers and resistance within Nigeria surrounding sexual and gender minorities as well as his own personal story. Ify talks about how he wants to go back one day to Nigeria to help sexual and gender minorities within his community and to challenge the government with the issues...

“If I really am gay then I’m a sin in the eyes of God” In this episode we speak to Erien (She/Her) a queer American-Indonesian all the way from Jakarta. Erien joins us for talking about managing microaggressions in the big city, her relationship between Islamic faith and queerness and the non-binary history of the Bugis people. Read below to hear more about her: ‘My name's Erien, my pronouns are she/her, and I'm queer and American-Indonesian, living and working from Jakarta. I'm 20,...

“Society is really homophobic, queer phobic, transphobic, and bi-phobic. Maybe what we need is some sort of awareness… We have to move forward not backward “ In this episode we speak with Kanav a cisgender homosexual man who lives with his family in Kolkata. Kanav is talking about how different it was for him when he was studying in Canada then coming back to live in India where there is a significant amount of homophobia present among the population. His sharing with us how he came out to...

“They thought being a gay person means you’re always in high heels and ladies dresses, they did not have any knowledge…” In this episode we speak to Krisztián (He/Him) a gay man from Hungary.  Krisztián discusses with us today about the barriers and resistance in Hungary and his own personal story of when he came out as a gay man to him family and friends. Krisztián also took part in a Coca Cola campaign called love is love with his partner and tells us about how this was challenged in...

“My father said I’m not okay with it but that is my job as a father to educate myself, you and me, we are fine and I love you” In this episode we speak to Germán (He/Him) a gay man from Columbia. Germán discusses with us today his own personal story as well as the barriers and resistance he found in Columbia around religion. Germán moved to Hungary in 2012 where he took part in the love is love Coca Cola campaign with his partner. Read below to hear more about him: ‘I was working in Mexico...

‘To not be fearful is privilege’. In this episode we speak to Cat (She/Her) a Northern-Irish Lesbian living in Kuala Lumpur. Cat joins us for talking about cofounding an underground Queer creative community in an interracial queer couple, experiencing white privilege in Malaysia and growing up in a colonized Northern Ireland. Read below to hear more about her: Cat Brogan is the Northern Irish co-founder of a LGBT social centre in Kuala Lumpur, where she has been based since she received...