Without systematic laws and labor protections to acknowledge and defend their rights, LGBTQ+ persons working in Sri Lanka's economic zones are left at the mercy of their employer's biases.
The growth in political representation of Black and trans women in Brazil's city governments has not gone unnoticed by right-wing parties, making them visible targets for racist and death threats and abuse.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's pardon of US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton in the killing of Jennifer Laude, a transPinay, in a hotel room in Olongapo reflects the country's historic subservience to US military interests.
Brazil has maintained its place as first among countries with the highest murder rate of trans and gender-diverse peoples. In a country that remains deeply conservative and religious, and under a president who has openly targeted the LGBTQ community to "rescue our values," Brazil's trans community especially is fighting to exist, freely, openly, and safely.
At the age of 18, Leyla’s three-year lesbian relationship was discovered. She ran away to Baghdad from her home in the conservative Iraqi city of Basra, though her girlfriend wasn’t able to escape. Staying behind turned out to be deadly.





















