Episodes

#010: HUMAN RIGHTS DAY (Jessica Stern)

12/11/2017
On this very special episode, we mark Human Rights Day by speaking with Jessica Stern, the fierce & fabulous Executive Director of OutRight Action International. Founded in 1990 as the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), OutRight is one of the world's oldest & most important organizations working to advance LGBTI human rights. Collaborating with grassroots activists, researchers, elected officials, the United Nations, and many more partners across the globe, Jessica...

Duration:00:41:28

#009: WORLD AIDS DAY - Where We Are (Greg Millett)

12/1/2017
For World AIDS Day, Greg Millett surveys where we are in the fight against HIV: the good news, the challenges & concerns, and the surprising news. Greg is the Vice President and Director of Public Policy for amfAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research, and has previously held leadership roles at the White House Office of National AIDS Policy and at the Centers for Disease Control. A globally recognized advocate and researcher, Greg's work has fundamentally transformed how we understand...

Duration:00:52:04

#008: Standards of Progress (Fabrice Houdart)

10/10/2017
On September 26, the United Nations released its global Standards of Conduct to support the business community as it tackles discrimination against LGBTI people. In this episode, we speak with Fabrice Houdart from the UN Human Rights Office about these new Standards, the role of business in promoting human rights, and more generally the connections between business, development, and supporting LGBTI people around the world. Read more about the United Nations Free and Equal campaign against...

Duration:00:47:44

#007: "The Buzzfeed Video Changed My Life" (Irene)

9/5/2017
What do you know about the “I” in “LGBTI”? On this week’s episode, I talk with Irene, an activist with Intersex Russia, who discusses her experiences being intersex – including how a Buzzfeed video (really!) changed her life. As mentioned in the episode, here’s Irene’s article, “I Discovered I’m Intersex from the Buzzfeed Video, along with the original Buzzfeed video, “What It’s Like to Be Intersex.” Intersex Russia can be found on Facebook here (in both Russian and English); also, you...

Duration:00:43:19

#006: "A Matter of Representation" (Luis Larraín)

8/22/2017
Today, Luis Larraín, a Chilean gay activist, talks about coming out, the LGBTQ movement in Chile, and his election campaign to become the first openly gay member of Chile's Chamber of Deputies. You can follow Luis on Twitter at @luislarrain and check out his website at luislarrain.cl.

Duration:00:46:03

#005: "We didn't start the campaign - the campaign pushed us" (Jennifer Lu)

8/8/2017
In this week’s episode, Jennifer Lu from the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association talks about the recent victory in Taiwan’s marriage equality campaign, changing attitudes in Taiwanese society, and about how Taiwan’s LGBTQ movement and legal victories resonate throughout Asia, especially in China.

Duration:00:53:43

#004: Limitless Visions (Mikael Owunna)

7/25/2017
In this episode, Nigerian-Swedish-American photographer Mikael Owunna discusses his project, Limit(less), which documents the fashion and style of LGBTQ Africans in North America and Europe. Owunna explores queer African style in the diaspora in order to debunk the myth that being LGBTQ is somehow “un-African.” Check out Limit(less) at http://limitlessafricans.com/ and Mikael's whole portfolio at http://mikaelowunna.com/. "4 Queer African Women" (Mikael Owunna)

Duration:00:39:02

#003: "They Murder Us" (Andrea Ayala)

7/11/2017
As Pride Months ends, we go to El Salvador for a conversation with Andrea Ayala, the Executive Director of ESMULES, Espacio de Mujeres Lesbianas Salvadoreñas por la Diversidad. Violence, both in general and specifically against LGBTI people, is epidemic in El Salvador, but in this conversation, Andrea discusses the resilient work her organization is doing to make key Salvadoran institutions more responsive to the needs of the LGBTI community. ESMULES is on Facebook here and on Twitter at...

Duration:00:40:19

#002: A Rainbow Railroad (Kimahli Powell)

6/27/2017
Welcome to the podcast about global LGBTI human rights! This week, we’re tackling 2017’s biggest story in queer human rights: the crisis in Chechnya. My guest is Kimahli Powell, the Executive Director of Rainbow Railroad. Based in Toronto, Rainbow Railroad has been working very closely with Russian activists to get gay Chechens to safety. We’ll be discussing this urgent work and the organization’s other work to offer a “rainbow railroad” to LGBTI people all over the world at immediate risk...

Duration:00:49:41

#001: Blingistan (Urooj Arshad)

5/25/2017
Welcome to the podcast about global LGBTI human rights! My guest for this first episode is Urooj Arshad, a fierce & fabulous queer Pakistani-American activist working for reproductive justice and against Islamophobia & homophobia. From Karachi to Illinois to Washington, D.C., Urooj's journey speaks powerfully to how we navigate our many identities in a complex & contradictory world. Urooj's essay, "Finding Blingistan: My Journey Home to the LGBT Community in Pakistan," can be found here....

Duration:00:46:42