This is what LGBT life is like around the world
-
0:01 - 0:03Jenni Chang: When I told
my parents I was gay, -
0:03 - 0:05the first thing they said to me was,
-
0:05 - 0:07"We're bringing you back to Taiwan."
-
0:07 - 0:09(Laughter)
-
0:10 - 0:14In their minds, my sexual orientation
was America's fault. -
0:14 - 0:17The West had corrupted me
with divergent ideas, -
0:17 - 0:20and if only my parents
had never left Taiwan, -
0:20 - 0:23this would not have happened
to their only daughter. -
0:23 - 0:26In truth, I wondered if they were right.
-
0:26 - 0:28Of course, there are gay people in Asia,
-
0:29 - 0:32just as there are gay people
in every part of the world. -
0:32 - 0:35But is the idea of living an "out" life,
-
0:35 - 0:38in the "I'm gay, this is my spouse,
and we're proud of our lives together" -
0:38 - 0:42kind of way just a Western idea?
-
0:43 - 0:47If I had grown up in Taiwan,
or any place outside of the West, -
0:47 - 0:52would I have found models
of happy, thriving LGBT people? -
0:52 - 0:54Lisa Dazols: I had similar notions.
-
0:54 - 0:56As an HIV social worker in San Francisco,
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0:56 - 0:58I had met many gay immigrants.
-
0:58 - 1:01They told me their stories
of persecution in their home countries, -
1:01 - 1:03just for being gay,
-
1:03 - 1:05and the reasons
why they escaped to the US. -
1:05 - 1:07I saw how this had beaten them down.
-
1:07 - 1:09After 10 years of doing this kind of work,
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1:09 - 1:12I needed better stories for myself.
-
1:12 - 1:14I knew the world was far from perfect,
-
1:14 - 1:16but surely not every gay story was tragic.
-
1:17 - 1:21JC: So as a couple, we both had a need
to find stories of hope. -
1:21 - 1:24So we set off on a mission
to travel the world -
1:24 - 1:28and look for the people
we finally termed as the "Supergays." -
1:28 - 1:31(Laughter)
-
1:32 - 1:34These would be the LGBT individuals
-
1:34 - 1:38who were doing something
extraordinary in the world. -
1:38 - 1:40They would be courageous, resilient,
-
1:40 - 1:43and most of all, proud of who they were.
-
1:43 - 1:46They would be the kind of person
that I aspire to be. -
1:46 - 1:51Our plan was to share their stories
to the world through film. -
1:51 - 1:52LD: There was just one problem.
-
1:52 - 1:55We had zero reporting
and zero filmmaking experience. -
1:55 - 1:56(Laughter)
-
1:57 - 1:59We didn't even know
where to find the Supergays, -
1:59 - 2:02so we just had to trust that we'd
figure it all out along the way. -
2:02 - 2:05So we picked 15 countries
in Asia, Africa and South America, -
2:05 - 2:09countries outside the West
that varied in terms of LGBT rights. -
2:09 - 2:10We bought a camcorder,
-
2:10 - 2:13ordered a book
on how to make a documentary -- -
2:13 - 2:14(Laughter)
-
2:14 - 2:17you can learn a lot these days --
-
2:17 - 2:19and set off on an around-the-world trip.
-
2:21 - 2:24JC: One of the first countries
that we traveled to was Nepal. -
2:24 - 2:28Despite widespread poverty,
a decade-long civil war, -
2:28 - 2:31and now recently,
a devastating earthquake, -
2:31 - 2:35Nepal has made significant strides
in the fight for equality. -
2:35 - 2:40One of the key figures
in the movement is Bhumika Shrestha. -
2:40 - 2:43A beautiful, vibrant transgendered woman,
-
2:43 - 2:47Bhumika has had to overcome
being expelled from school -
2:47 - 2:51and getting incarcerated
because of her gender presentation. -
2:51 - 2:56But, in 2007, Bhumika
and Nepal's LGBT rights organization -
2:56 - 2:59successfully petitioned
the Nepali Supreme Court -
2:59 - 3:02to protect against LGBT discrimination.
-
3:02 - 3:03Here's Bhumika:
-
3:03 - 3:05(Video) BS: What I'm most proud of?
-
3:05 - 3:06I'm a transgendered person.
-
3:06 - 3:08I'm so proud of my life.
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3:08 - 3:12On December 21, 2007,
-
3:12 - 3:16the supreme court gave the decision
for the Nepal government -
3:16 - 3:18to give transgender identity cards
-
3:18 - 3:20and same-sex marriage.
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3:20 - 3:24LD: I can appreciate
Bhumika's confidence on a daily basis. -
3:24 - 3:26Something as simple
as using a public restroom -
3:27 - 3:29can be a huge challenge
when you don't fit in -
3:29 - 3:32to people's strict gender expectations.
-
3:32 - 3:34Traveling throughout Asia,
-
3:34 - 3:36I tended to freak out women
in public restrooms. -
3:36 - 3:39They weren't used to seeing
someone like me. -
3:39 - 3:42I had to come up with a strategy,
so that I could just pee in peace. -
3:42 - 3:43(Laughter)
-
3:43 - 3:45So anytime I would enter a restroom,
-
3:45 - 3:48I would thrust out my chest
to show my womanly parts, -
3:48 - 3:50and try to be as
non-threatening as possible. -
3:50 - 3:52Putting out my hands and saying, "Hello",
-
3:52 - 3:55just so that people
could hear my feminine voice. -
3:56 - 3:59This all gets pretty exhausting,
but it's just who I am. -
3:59 - 4:00I can't be anything else.
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4:01 - 4:05JC: After Nepal, we traveled to India.
-
4:05 - 4:08On one hand, India is a Hindu society,
-
4:08 - 4:11without a tradition of homophobia.
-
4:11 - 4:15On the other hand, it is also a society
with a deeply patriarchal system, -
4:15 - 4:19which rejects anything
that threatens the male-female order. -
4:19 - 4:21When we spoke to activists,
-
4:21 - 4:26they told us that empowerment begins
with ensuring proper gender equality, -
4:26 - 4:29where the women's status
is established in society. -
4:29 - 4:34And in that way, the status of LGBT people
can be affirmed as well. -
4:34 - 4:37LD: There we met Prince Manvendra.
-
4:37 - 4:41He's the world's first openly gay prince.
-
4:41 - 4:43Prince Manvendra came out
on the "Oprah Winfrey Show," -
4:43 - 4:44very internationally.
-
4:44 - 4:46His parents disowned him
-
4:46 - 4:49and accused him of bringing
great shame to the royal family. -
4:49 - 4:51We sat down with Prince Manvendra
-
4:51 - 4:55and talked to him about why he decided
to come out so very publicly. -
4:55 - 4:56Here he is:
-
4:56 - 4:58(Video) Prince Manvendra:
I felt there was a lot of need -
4:58 - 5:03to break this stigma and discrimination
which is existing in our society. -
5:03 - 5:08And that instigated me to come out openly
and talk about myself. -
5:08 - 5:11Whether we are gay, we are lesbian,
we are transgender, bisexual -
5:11 - 5:14or whatever sexual minority we come from,
-
5:14 - 5:18we have to all unite
and fight for our rights. -
5:18 - 5:21Gay rights cannot be won
in the court rooms, -
5:21 - 5:23but in the hearts and the minds
of the people. -
5:24 - 5:26JC: While getting my hair cut,
-
5:26 - 5:28the woman cutting my hair asked me,
-
5:28 - 5:30"Do you have a husband?"
-
5:30 - 5:32Now, this was a dreaded question
-
5:32 - 5:35that I got asked a lot
by locals while traveling. -
5:35 - 5:39When I explained to her
that I was with a woman instead of a man, -
5:39 - 5:40she was incredulous,
-
5:40 - 5:44and she asked me a lot of questions
about my parents' reactions -
5:44 - 5:47and whether I was sad
that I'd never be able to have children. -
5:48 - 5:51I told her that there are
no limitations to my life -
5:51 - 5:54and that Lisa and I do plan
to have a family some day. -
5:55 - 5:57Now, this woman was ready to write me off
-
5:57 - 5:59as yet another crazy Westerner.
-
6:00 - 6:02She couldn't imagine
that such a phenomenon -
6:02 - 6:04could happen in her own country.
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6:04 - 6:07That is, until I showed her
the photos of the Supergays -
6:07 - 6:08that we interviewed in India.
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6:10 - 6:12She recognized Prince Manvendra
from television -
6:12 - 6:14and soon I had an audience
of other hairdressers -
6:14 - 6:15interested in meeting me.
-
6:16 - 6:17(Laughter)
-
6:17 - 6:20And in that ordinary afternoon,
-
6:20 - 6:23I had the chance to introduce
an entire beauty salon -
6:23 - 6:26to the social changes
that were happening in their own country. -
6:28 - 6:30LD: From India,
we traveled to East Africa, -
6:30 - 6:34a region known for intolerance
towards LGBT people. -
6:34 - 6:38In Kenya, 89 percent of people
who come out to their families -
6:38 - 6:39are disowned.
-
6:39 - 6:43Homosexual acts are a crime
and can lead to incarceration. -
6:43 - 6:46In Kenya, we met
the soft-spoken David Kuria. -
6:46 - 6:49David had a huge mission
of wanting to work for the poor -
6:49 - 6:51and improve his own government.
-
6:51 - 6:53So he decided to run for senate.
-
6:53 - 6:58He became Kenya's first
openly gay political candidate. -
6:58 - 7:03David wanted to run his campaign
without denying the reality of who he was. -
7:03 - 7:04But we were worried for his safety
-
7:04 - 7:07because he started
to receive death threats. -
7:07 - 7:09(Video) David Kuria:
At that point, I was really scared -
7:09 - 7:13because they were
actually asking for me to be killed. -
7:13 - 7:16And, yeah,
-
7:16 - 7:18there are some people out there who do it
-
7:18 - 7:21and they feel that they are doing
a religious obligation. -
7:22 - 7:24JC: David wasn't ashamed of who he was.
-
7:24 - 7:26Even in the face of threats,
-
7:26 - 7:27he stayed authentic.
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7:29 - 7:32LD: At the opposite end
of the spectrum is Argentina. -
7:32 - 7:36Argentina's a country where 92 percent
of the population identifies as Catholic. -
7:36 - 7:40Yet, Argentina has LGBT laws
that are even more progressive -
7:40 - 7:42than here in the US.
-
7:43 - 7:47In 2010, Argentina became
the first country in Latin America -
7:47 - 7:50and the 10th in the world
to adopt marriage equality. -
7:50 - 7:53There, we met María Rachid.
-
7:53 - 7:55María was a driving force
behind that movement. -
7:55 - 7:58María Rachid (Spanish):
I always say that, in reality, -
7:58 - 7:59the effects of marriage equality
-
7:59 - 8:02are not only for those couples
that get married. -
8:02 - 8:05They are for a lot of people that,
even though they may never get married, -
8:05 - 8:08will be perceived differently
by their coworkers, -
8:08 - 8:11their families and neighbors,
-
8:11 - 8:15from the national state's
message of equality. -
8:15 - 8:17I feel very proud of Argentina
-
8:17 - 8:21because Argentina today
is a model of equality. -
8:21 - 8:23And hopefully soon,
-
8:23 - 8:28the whole world will have the same rights.
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8:28 - 8:30JC: When we made the visit
to my ancestral lands, -
8:30 - 8:33I wish I could have shown
my parents what we found there. -
8:34 - 8:35Because here is who we met:
-
8:35 - 8:41(Video) One, two, three.
Welcome gays to Shanghai! -
8:41 - 8:43(Laughter)
-
8:46 - 8:52A whole community of young,
beautiful Chinese LGBT people. -
8:52 - 8:54Sure, they had their struggles.
-
8:54 - 8:56But they were fighting it out.
-
8:56 - 9:00In Shanghai, I had the chance
to speak to a local lesbian group -
9:00 - 9:04and tell them our story
in my broken Mandarin Chinese. -
9:04 - 9:06In Taipei, each time
we got onto the metro, -
9:06 - 9:09we saw yet another
lesbian couple holding hands. -
9:09 - 9:14And we learned that Asia's
largest LGBT pride event -
9:14 - 9:18happens just blocks away
from where my grandparents live. -
9:18 - 9:20If only my parents knew.
-
9:21 - 9:25LD: By the time we finished our
not-so-straight journey around the world, -
9:25 - 9:26(Laughter)
-
9:26 - 9:28we had traveled 50,000 miles
-
9:28 - 9:30and logged 120 hours of video footage.
-
9:30 - 9:32We traveled to 15 countries
-
9:32 - 9:34and interviewed 50 Supergays.
-
9:34 - 9:37Turns out, it wasn't hard
to find them at all. -
9:37 - 9:40JC: Yes, there are still
tragedies that happen -
9:40 - 9:42on the bumpy road to equality.
-
9:42 - 9:47And let's not forget that 75 countries
still criminalize homosexuality today. -
9:48 - 9:51But there are also stories
of hope and courage -
9:51 - 9:54in every corner of the world.
-
9:55 - 9:58What we ultimately took away
from our journey is, -
9:58 - 10:01equality is not a Western invention.
-
10:03 - 10:07LD: One of the key factors
in this equality movement is momentum, -
10:07 - 10:11momentum as more and more people
embrace their full selves -
10:11 - 10:13and use whatever opportunities they have
-
10:13 - 10:15to change their part of the world,
-
10:15 - 10:17and momentum as more and more countries
-
10:17 - 10:20find models of equality in one another.
-
10:20 - 10:24When Nepal protected
against LGBT discrimination, -
10:24 - 10:26India pushed harder.
-
10:26 - 10:28When Argentina embraced marriage equality,
-
10:28 - 10:31Uruguay and Brazil followed.
-
10:31 - 10:34When Ireland said yes to equality,
-
10:34 - 10:38(Applause)
-
10:38 - 10:40the world stopped to notice.
-
10:40 - 10:42When the US Supreme Court
makes a statement to the world -
10:42 - 10:44that we can all be proud of.
-
10:44 - 10:46(Applause)
-
10:51 - 10:52JC: As we reviewed our footage,
-
10:52 - 10:56what we realized is that
we were watching a love story. -
10:56 - 10:59It wasn't a love story
that was expected of me, -
10:59 - 11:03but it is one filled
with more freedom, adventure and love -
11:03 - 11:06than I could have ever possibly imagined.
-
11:06 - 11:09One year after returning home
from our trip, -
11:09 - 11:12marriage equality came to California.
-
11:12 - 11:16And in the end, we believe,
love will win out. -
11:19 - 11:21(Video) By the power vested in me,
-
11:21 - 11:24by the state of California
-
11:24 - 11:26and by God Almighty,
-
11:26 - 11:30I now pronounce you spouses for life.
-
11:30 - 11:31You may kiss.
-
11:31 - 11:33(Applause)
- Title:
- This is what LGBT life is like around the world
- Speaker:
- Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazols
- Description:
-
As a gay couple in San Francisco, Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazols had a relatively easy time living the way they wanted. But outside the bubble of the Bay Area, what was life like for people still lacking basic rights? They set off on a world tour in search of "Supergays," LGBT people who were doing something extraordinary in the world. In 15 countries across Africa, Asia and South America — from India, recently home to the world's first openly gay prince, to Argentina, the first country in Latin America to grant marriage equality — they found the inspiring stories and the courageous, resilient and proud Supergays they had been looking for.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:50
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for This is what LGBT life is like around the world | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for This is what LGBT life is like around the world | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for This is what LGBT life is like around the world | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for This is what LGBT life is like around the world | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for This is what LGBT life is like around the world | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for This is what LGBT life is like around the world | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz accepted English subtitles for This is what LGBT life is like around the world | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for This is what LGBT life is like around the world |