VOICES
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PRIDE MONTH POETRY
- ACUSHLA MIRIHANA, SRI LANKA Katy Perry said she kissed a girl and she liked it,
So did I, I fell in love with her curls Her soft lips that locked tight with mine, Chest to chest with her, So I was a sinner My father, he hated me for loving another woman, He said that a lesbian wasn't a respectable human, My father doesn't exist anymore, I'm glad. I had a flat chest, I hated my body I felt like a boy, I knew I was one But transgenders were looked at twice, in disgust, I cut my hair anyway, My confidence higher than the sky. |
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LOVE UNPLUGGED
- A CAMPAIGN BY WOMAN AMBASSADORS How could a 2018 Valentine's Day be different from that of 1958. Intrigued by the question, Woman Ambassadors is proud to introduce you to Project LOVE UNPLUGGED that aims to break the stereotype centered around Love - limited to a man and a woman.
Project LOVE UNPLUGGED is the need of 2018 to help people come out and accept their identities so the beautiful expression of LOVE is not left unsaid and can be celebrated with freedom. We would be delighted to get your support to come together in an effort to leave a deep social impact under the bigger umbrella of LOVE and get India talking. |
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WHAT AN INSTAGRAM STORY CAN DO
- LAKKITHA SAMARAKONE, SRI LANKA I'm Lakkitha Samarakone, 17 years, and living in Colombo, Sri Lanka. I'm currently a high school student and also a youth activist. Recently, I read an article about the project "16 days of activism" organised by the UN to spread awareness on gender based violence and decided to engage with this project through social media. I feel social media is a good source and a platform for activists because it's a quick and efficient way to discuss & make the public aware of the latest global and social issues specially for a country where such issues are not spoken much.
I simply used Instagram and posted a question on my story. The question was "What can we do to end gender based violence in Sri Lanka?" Immediately, most of my friends(aged between 13 to 21) had replied with captivating answers. Below are answers that my friends had given: RESPONDENT 1: "First of all we need to raise awareness in rural areas as well as in the city. Explain why it's really bad & also strict laws need to be implemented to punish the ones responsible & also send the message to the ones that want to try" |
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STRUGGLES OF A TRANS MODEL
- KIRAN'S STORY Transgender model Anjali Lama recently made history at India's Lakmé Fashion Week. While this seems to be progress, Kiran, a Transgender model, talks about the reality by highlighting problems transgenders face in the Indian creative industry. She shares the struggles of a trans model in India through her life journey. “Just looking at the photos, they think that we are women, it is when they call us to meet in person that they realise that we are “trans-women”. The auditioners then start passing inappropriate comments, and shame us.” |
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THE DARK CLOSET AND ITS UNTOLD SECRETS
- DINUL HETTIARACHICHI (SRI LANKA) Society still accepts me. People still talk to me. No one looks at me differently. But what no one knows is how I cry myself to sleep; the way I stare at an empty void contemplating all the bad things that might happen if I was to come out, but also, all the good things. The goodness I’d feel within, to finally, be, myself. They don't know how hard it is for me to not love myself merely because they won't accept me.Those boys aren't the ones that are forced to google 'how to be heterosexual.’ |
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UNDERNEATH A CLEAR NIGHT SKY
- DETMER YENS KREMER (NETHERLANDS) While the pedals of my old bike rattled, while the generator of my light buzzed loudly, I cycled over an asphalt river towards my home. The soft glow of my headlight only illuminated a small circle right in front of me, one that was interrupted by the bright white markings on the road. I only looked up. The road cut through spacious meadows and created numerous rectangles, as if I cycled on the black lines of a Mondrian painting. My light was the only one for as far as I could see. I was still looking up, in awe of the spectacle drawn on the night sky, right above me. I saw millions of stars forming mythical heroes and exotic animals. A blur, our Milky Way, stretching out far beyond the horizon. Each time I looked up and saw this near magical scenery, I felt part of something larger than life. |
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LIVING WITH ANXIETY FOR 365 DAYS
-AVNIKA GUPTA (INDIA) On some days, my anxiety gently crawls into my bed and whispers "good morning", a warning bell for my fragile feet bargaining with the floor. On some days, I sleep with it, poured into the marrow of my bones. You see, it's no longer tricked into sleeping under my bed, or hiding beneath the sheets, it keeps climbing, till it's one with the voices in my head. |
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I WAS ALWAYS DIFFERENT, ALWAYS OTHER
- ROBYN-VIE CARPENTER BRISCO (USA) Last year while speaking to a group of high school students, I was asked if 20 years ago, I thought my life would be like this. Now, I'm sure we all know the answer to this -- no, of course not. My life if nothing like I thought it would be; it is way better.A little over 20 years ago, I came out. Well, actually I was never in. I had no idea that I was a lesbian. It never occurred to me. I attribute it to the fact that I was a black girl who had grown up in predominantly white neighbourhoods. I was always different, always other.My mother had taught me that being myself was good enough. So, I didn't worry about the thoughts, feelings and dreams that I had as a child. I didn't question whether something was wrong with me. |
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Interviews
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ARAVANI ART PROJECT
- DAMINI BHATTACHARYA We had a talk with the founder of the Aravani Art Project, Poornima, a lovely and enigmatic young woman from Bangalore who believes that it is her duty to save the world. Read on to know more about their project which works with the transgender community and to tries to remove the stigma around them through their art. |
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BRENT WRIGHT
Brent Wright, originally from Stockton Springs, Maine, is the Programming Director of the Family Equality Council, the largest American non-profit specifically for LGBT+ families. Brent is responsible for coordinating events designed to support LGBT+ parents, their children, extended family members and the allied community across their arc of life. In addition to large-scale annual programs like Family Week in Provincetown and Family Weekend at Disney in California, Brent’s department also provides support to LGBT+ parents and local LGBT+ parent groups, connecting them to resources and further building community and advancing their lived equality. Brent and his husband, Sandis, live in the Boston area and are parents themselves to daughters, Olivia and Noelle. |
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DK AND THE JOY MACHINE
DK & the Joy Machine is a solo Americana Singer-Songwriter from Bridgeport, Connecticut. Known for rocking out on the dulcimer, DK performs acoustic, punk and roots/Americana music with complex arrangements, and a highly innovative and percussive style on both acoustic and electric mountain dulcimer (the "Joy Machine"). During her decade-long hiatus, the queer artiste worked as a writer, union organizer and activist. |
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ANJALI GOPALAN
Anjali Gopalan is an Indian Human Rights and Animal Rights activist, Founder and Executive Director of The Naz Foundation (India) Trust, an NGO dedicated to the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in India mainly focussed on women and children. Anjali began working on issues related to HIV/AIDS and marginalised communities in the United States. In 2012, Times Magazine placed Gopalan in its list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. |
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LIBBY MOORE
For eleven years, Libby Moore served as chief of staff to Oprah Winfrey and worked as a consulting producer on the launch of the Emmy award-winning show Super Soul Sunday on OWN, The Oprah Winfrey Network. Earlier in her career, she worked as Executive Assistant to Jann Wenner (Wenner Media), publisher of Rolling Stone, US Weekly and Men’s Journal. She dabbled in improv comedy, was a personal assistant to Maury Povich and worked for radio stations and newspapers on Boston’s North Shore. Libby is a speaker/story teller, adventurer, certified life coach and creative connector. She is a member of the Board of Trustees at Endicott College, an advisor to Girlmentum Media, and a mentor to numerous young adults. |
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RAIN DOVE
An androgynous supermodel, actor and activist, Rain Dove is breaking the binary gender laws. She is undeniably one of the most unique faces on the fashion scene. As an androgynous model, Rain is an advocate for redefining and challenging societal perceptions of gender and definitions of beauty. |
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DANA LEVINSON
Dana is a musical theatre composer/lyricist, arranger, and orchestrator. Music and Lyrics: 5th Republic (NYMF 2011 under the title Les Enfants de Paris), MADAME , Bathory. Arranging and Orchestration: Gypsy of the Year: Avenue Q Presentation (Minskoff Theatre, Broadway), Joanna Gleason: In Bloom , Well-Strung , LUDO's Broken Bride, Monica's Mixing Bowl, San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. Film Scoring: The Waystation in the Stars (dir. Brandon Morrissey), Monica's Mixing Bowl . Dana graduated from the New School with honors with a degree in Musical Theatre and a minor in Global Studies. She is a 2014-2015 Dramatists Guild Fellow, and studies Oud and Arabic music with the conductor of the New York Arabic Orchestra, Bassam Saba. |
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Blogs
GENDERLESS CLOTHING- IS THIS A STEP BACKWARDS?
- Jack Bean, owner and designer for OFFEND MY EYES clothing company.
I recently saw an article about a well known clothing brand releasing their new line of ‘genderless’ clothing. Whilst my first impressions was that I was pleased the company had chose to support people who didn’t necessarily fit into the default ‘male or female’ categories, I was soon concerned that what they had actually done was the opposite.
Growing up as a transgender man, I often found it nerve racking to shop for clothing. Most high street shops didn’t only label their clothing as MALE or FEMALE, but also went as far as to separate them completely - often on completely different floors of a store! Walking through the mens section was not only daunting, but being told I had to take the men’s clothing downstairs to the women’s changing rooms was humiliating, and the continuous ‘they’re men’s jeans, you want the women’s section downstairs’ very intrusive and rude.
- Jack Bean, owner and designer for OFFEND MY EYES clothing company.
I recently saw an article about a well known clothing brand releasing their new line of ‘genderless’ clothing. Whilst my first impressions was that I was pleased the company had chose to support people who didn’t necessarily fit into the default ‘male or female’ categories, I was soon concerned that what they had actually done was the opposite.
Growing up as a transgender man, I often found it nerve racking to shop for clothing. Most high street shops didn’t only label their clothing as MALE or FEMALE, but also went as far as to separate them completely - often on completely different floors of a store! Walking through the mens section was not only daunting, but being told I had to take the men’s clothing downstairs to the women’s changing rooms was humiliating, and the continuous ‘they’re men’s jeans, you want the women’s section downstairs’ very intrusive and rude.
THE ANGEL YOU WON'T SEE ON THE VICTORIA'S SECRET RUNWAY
The Angel You Won't See on the Victoria's Secret Runway- Model Rain Dove creates controversial photoshoot encouraging Victoria's Secret to Expand Angels' Beauty Standards
December 7th, 2015 - New York, NY - Model Rain Dove (instagram.com/raindovemodel), whose curvy figure is a breathtaking 32DD-26-34 would surely fit in perfectly amongst the Victoria's Secret Angels. But the model, who like many women, wears her hair close-cropped, and has strong features that are often considered "masculine", knows she would never be accepted despite her figure as she doesn't fit the feminine archetype inherent to an Angel. Rain, who is often mistaken in her daily life as "male" or "transgender", is neither.
The Angel You Won't See on the Victoria's Secret Runway- Model Rain Dove creates controversial photoshoot encouraging Victoria's Secret to Expand Angels' Beauty Standards
December 7th, 2015 - New York, NY - Model Rain Dove (instagram.com/raindovemodel), whose curvy figure is a breathtaking 32DD-26-34 would surely fit in perfectly amongst the Victoria's Secret Angels. But the model, who like many women, wears her hair close-cropped, and has strong features that are often considered "masculine", knows she would never be accepted despite her figure as she doesn't fit the feminine archetype inherent to an Angel. Rain, who is often mistaken in her daily life as "male" or "transgender", is neither.
CALABAR YOUTH COUNCIL FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS (NIGERIA): WEEKLY BLOGS
We’re a youth-led non-profit organization with the goal to end female genital mutilation, gender-based violence and child marriage in Nigeria. We are unyielding in our resolve that gender-based violence and FGM can end in this generation. Thus, in a bid to promote this vision, we engage in voluntary community outreach targeted at the patriarchs who are the custodians of culture to provide education and empowerment that enables them get rid of female genital mutilation. We also target women and the girl child to provide an ideological reorientation about the status of women in the society, and the general social value placed on women. We want a world where women can fully participate in without any mental or elemental limitations and micro aggressions. Female Genital Circumcision and gender-based violence constitutes a fundamental assault to the dignity of humans. We believe in the utility of discourse, debate, dialogue and advocacy, as vital tools and instruments for social integration and cohesion which will question the aspect of culture that upholds the barbaric practice of FGM and gender-based violence. We strive and remain dogged to this vision till every practice of gender-based violence has been done away with completely in Nigeria.
We’re a youth-led non-profit organization with the goal to end female genital mutilation, gender-based violence and child marriage in Nigeria. We are unyielding in our resolve that gender-based violence and FGM can end in this generation. Thus, in a bid to promote this vision, we engage in voluntary community outreach targeted at the patriarchs who are the custodians of culture to provide education and empowerment that enables them get rid of female genital mutilation. We also target women and the girl child to provide an ideological reorientation about the status of women in the society, and the general social value placed on women. We want a world where women can fully participate in without any mental or elemental limitations and micro aggressions. Female Genital Circumcision and gender-based violence constitutes a fundamental assault to the dignity of humans. We believe in the utility of discourse, debate, dialogue and advocacy, as vital tools and instruments for social integration and cohesion which will question the aspect of culture that upholds the barbaric practice of FGM and gender-based violence. We strive and remain dogged to this vision till every practice of gender-based violence has been done away with completely in Nigeria.