This is what LGBT life is like around the world

Jenni Change: When I told my parents
I was gay,

the first thing they said to me was,

"We're bring you back to Taiwan."

(Laughter)

In their minds, my sexual orientation
was America's fault.

The West had corrupted me
with divergent ideas,

and if only my parents
had not left Taiwan,

this would not have happened
to their only daughter.

In truth, I wondered
if they were right.

Of course, there are gay people
in Asia,

just as there are gay people
in every part of the world.

But is the idea of living
an "out" life,

in the "I'm gay, this is my spouse,
and we're proud of our lives together"

kind of way just a Western idea?

If I had grown up in Taiwan,
or any place outside of the West,

would I have found models
of happy, thriving, LGBT people?

Liza Dazols: I had similar notions.

As an HIV social worker in San Francisco,

I met many gay immigrants.

They told me their stories of persecution
in their home countries,

just for being gay,

and the reasons why they escaped the US.

I saw how this had beaten them down.

After 10 years of doing this kind of work,

I needed better stories for myself.

I knew the world was far from perfect,

but surely not every gay story was tragic.

JG: So as a couple, we both had a need
to find stories of hope.

So we set off on a mission
to travel the world

and look for the people we
finally termed as "The Super Gays".

(Laughter)

These would be the LGBT invidiuals

who are doing something
extraordinary in the world.

They would be courageous, resilient,

and most of all, proud of who they were.

They would be the kind of person
that I aspired to be.

Our plan was to share their stories
to the world through film.

LD: There's just one problem,

we had zero reporting
and zero filmmaking experience.

(Laughter)

We didn't even know
where to find the Super Gays,

so we just had to trust that we'd
figure it all out along the way.

So we picked 15 countries
in Asia, Africa and South America,

countries outside the West
that varied in LGBT rights.

We ordered a camcorder,

ordered a book on
how to make a documentary,

(Laughter)

you can learn a lot these days,

and set off on an
around-the-world trip.

JC: One of the first countries
that we traveled to was Nepal.

Despite widespread poverty,
a decade-long civil war,

and more recently,

a devastating earthquake,

Nepal has made significant strides
in the fight for equality.

One of the key figures
in the movement is Bhumika Shrestha.

A beautiful, vibrant transgendered woman,

Bhumika has had to overcome
being expelled from school

and getting incarcerated
because of her gender presentation.

But, in 2007, Bhumika and Nepal's
LGBT rights organization

successfully petitioned
the Nepali Supreme Court

against LGBT discrimination.

Here's Bhumika:

BS: What I'm most proud,

I'm a transgendered person.

I'm so proud of my life.

On December 21, 2007,

the Supreme Court gave the decision

for the Nepal government

to give transgender identity cards

and sam sex marriage.

LD: I could appreciate
Bhumika's confidence on a daily basis.

Something as simple
as using a public restroom

can be huge challenge
when you don't fit in

to people's strict gender expectations.

Traveling around Asia,

I tended to freak out women
in public restrooms.

They weren't used to seeing
someone like me.

I had to come up with a strategy

so that I could just pee in peace.

(Laughter)