Celebrating Global Trans Advocates

These days, whether we’re looking at Texas and Florida or at Russia and Argentina, it’s far too easy to find authoritarian leaders who are weaponizing transphobia. Just the other week, we wrote about how the right-wing extremist forces behind Project 2025 are putting demonizing transgender people at the heart of their plan to undermine American democracy and the rule of law.

No one has to look far to find the challenges, the forces who would deny basic dignity, security, and the rights of citizenship to trans and gender-diverse people.

But instead, let’s take a moment instead to celebrate some heroes fighting the good fight, winning victories — despite the dramatic lack of funder support for the global trans rights movement.

There are many more champions we could spotlight, and feel free to share suggestions of others deserving of recognition. In the meantime, we share our gratitude and our solidarity with these remarkable organizers.

Lilit Martirosyan, President, Right Side NGO (Armenia)

Lilit Martirosyan has been an organizer for transgender rights in Armenia for nearly fifteen years. Her passions for democracy building and protecting the rights and freedoms of vulnerable groups encompass refugees and asylum seekers, people living with HIV, and sex workers as well as sexual and gender minorities. In 2016, she founded Right Side NGO, Armenia’s first transgender rights organization and the first trans-led NGO in the South Caucasus, through which she promotes social, cultural, and legal reforms for transgender people and sex workers. Through her advocacy, Right Side NGO has helped transgender Armenians secure legal name changes. In 2020, Lilit was awarded the Human Rights Tulip by the government of The Netherlands, and she used the €100,000 in prize money to establish a safe and secure space for transgender LGBT people in Armenia.

Top Advocacy Priorities: To create lasting solutions that promote social inclusion for, prevent the violation of human rights of, and ensure the quality of dignified lives of transgender people and sex workers in Armenia. Such goals require protecting community health and safety, promoting human rights protection and legal reforms, and changing public opinion and cultural norms.

Manisha Dhakal, Executive Director, Blue Diamond Society (Nepal)

Active in Nepal’s LGBTQI+ movement since 2001, Manisha Dhakal has worked on projects spanning HIV/AIDS, human rights activism, constitutional campaigns, advocacy, capacity building, academic research, LGBTQI+ child rights, and more. She took part in the landmark hearings that led to the Nepal Supreme Court’s 2007 ruling ordering the government to expand rights for its LGBTQI+ citizens. The first transgender woman in Nepal’s Country Coordinating Mechanism for the Global Fund, Manisha is currently the Executive Director of Blue Diamond Society (BDS), the country’s pioneering LGBTQI+ rights organization, as well as the President of Federation of Sexual and Gender Minorities of Nepal. She is a founding member of the Asia-Pacific Transgender Network and previously co-chaired the Board of ILGA Asia.

Top Advocacy Priorities: Bridging the gap between the legal rights for LGBTQI+ people in Nepal and their implementation, such as for legal gender recognition and marriage equality.

Pau González Sánchez, Co-Founder, Hombres Trans Panamá (Panama)

Pau González Sánchez is a committed grassroots leader and one of the most prominent advocates for equality for the LGBTQI+ community in Panama and in Latin America and the Caribbean more broadly. He is co-founder of Panama’s first transmasculine group, Hombres Trans Panamá, and of the first Association of Family and Friends of LGBTQI+ people (PFLAG-Panama). In past years, he represented Panama at the Human Rights Campaign’s Global Innovators Program and is an alum of the Agents of Change program at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung for Central America. Pau is currently working on the “Latin American Trans Masculine Historical Memory project,” an oral history initiative focusing on personal narratives of trans men aged 40 and above. It documents and preserves their diverse histories, serving as a crucial platform for understanding their challenges, triumphs, and contributions in the region. Through interviews and storytelling, the initiative aims to create a comprehensive record, offering valuable insights into their unique journeys. Professionally, he operates as a certified medical interpreter, a realtor and property manager, and a human rights consultant for the UN’S High Commissioner Office for Human Rights on the National Free and Equal Campaign. 

Top Advocacy Priorities: Advancing the legal recognition of gender markers in official documents in Panama through strategic litigation; supporting the development of standardized protocols and guidelines for inclusive healthcare of transgender and gender-diverse individuals.

Sam Gcinekile Ndlovu, Director, Trans Research Education Advocacy and Training (TREAT) (Zimbabwe)

Sam Gcinekile Ndlovu is a transman raised on feminist principles. He is the Director of Trans Research Education Advocacy and Training (TREAT), a trans-led organization in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. He also currently serves as Chairperson of the Southern African Trans Forum and Co-Chair of the African Trans Network, which is a community of practice of trans and gender diverse serving institutions, which constitutes 19 partner organizations currently from 11 Southern African countries. Previously, he worked at the Sexual Rights Centre as a Programmes Officer and was a part of the founding leadership of VOVO, a LBTI feminist collective in Bulawayo. He is a vibrant poet and musician who believes that love and empathy will continue to be unequaled forces in centering and growing movements around the globe.

Top Advocacy Priorities: Freedom from violence and the protection of the human dignity of trans and gender-diverse members of our families across the world, to allow them a fighting chance to peacefully exercise active citizenry and contribute their skills and talents to the development of their nations and communities they exist in.

Tampose Mothopeng, Executive Director, The People’s Matrix (Lesotho)

A 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow, Tampose Mothopeng has dedicated himself to supporting Lesotho’s LGBTQI+ community and has been the executive director of The People’s Matrix Association since 2009. His pioneering research focuses on HIV, human rights, and the legal framework surrounding the LGBTQI+ community, as well as the experiences of MSM and women who have sex with women (WSW) in sub-Saharan Africa. Collaborating with esteemed researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Harvard University, and the University of Cape Town, Tampose has published numerous research documents and peer-reviewed journal articles. His work highlights the unique vulnerabilities faced by MSM and WSW individuals in Lesotho, as well as the experiences of and challenges facing Lesotho’s transgender community, and has been presented at various International AIDS Conferences.

In the face of cultural and religious challenges that have silenced the LGBTQI+ community in the name of Christianity, Tampose continues to hold the government of Lesotho accountable for its human rights obligations, including by presenting the Human Rights Defenders statement during the 53rd Human Rights Council session and challenging the national funding mechanism to benefit minority groups.

Top Advocacy Priorities: Increased accountability and transparency mechanisms with community coordination in HIV programs

Yaquota Idrissy, President, South Trans Voice Organization (Morocco)

A long-time human rights advocate, Yaquota serves as the President of the South Trans Voice organization in Morocco, which provides psychological, social, legal, and health support to individuals affected by gender-based discrimination. Furthermore, Yaquota works tirelessly towards achieving justice and equality for all individuals in the trans community in Morocco. She has also had valuable experience working as a field interventionist with the Association for the Fight Against AIDS and has been a member of the T_wanazar Alliance and the Free Women’s Union. Currently, Yaquota is focused on promoting the sexual and reproductive rights of trans individuals in central and southern Morocco. One of her key objectives is to integrate trans people as a key population into the health system to fight epidemics and develop preventive programs that respect their privacy and dignity. 

Top Advocacy Priorities: Legal recognition of transgender persons in Morocco and their integration into daily life; development of public policies to ensure transgender persons can change their identification papers.