Rita and their classmates take a walk after school wraps. These young activists have already shifted local attitudes towards LGBTQI+ people. Photo by Luke Duggelby.
“We all want justice. We all want a future that is fair. But we live in fear of being kicked out of our homes, being ostracized. We’re all looking around wondering who will be the first to take action. And I… I am that person,” says 18-year-old Rapeepat Khunphaeng (Rita, above left), sitting proudly in the library of their high school in Nong Khai, Thailand.
The ‘we’ Rita speaks of refers to other LGBTQI+ people. But the “we” also stands for all Thai people. For Rita, everyone’s struggles are linked – and a safer, more equitable Thailand for the queer community means a better Thailand for everyone.
Not all teenagers speak with such conviction. But not all teenagers have benefited from Isaan Gender Diversity Network – an AJWS grantee partner in northeast Thailand. Not yet, at least.
IGDN is a social change organization shifting Thai society to be more open and accepting towards LGBTQI+ people by training young leaders to spark dialogues and lead educational programs in their schools and home communities. They call this project the Isaan Children Youth Leadership (ICYL) initiative; Rita is a member of IGDN’s second ICYL cadre, which included 54 students. These students founded six youth groups in their communities in 2024, hosting educational programs that reached almost 1,500 young people across the region.
Rita grew up between rural Nong Khai and Bangkok, “confused by who I was. Was I a boy? Was I a girl?” they say today. “I was bullied because my voice was sweeter and higher than others. I used to pray: Please take this voice away from me.”
Rita leads a group discussion with their ICYL crew, planning LGBTQI+ programming for their school. Photo by Luke Duggelby.
But as Rita entered adolescence, they gained a stronger sense of self, rooted in the injustice they saw in how Thai society treated LGBTQI+ people. Rita spent hours in the wild nature outside Nong Khai meditating, “coming face to face with the feelings I hid from myself, talking to my younger self who’d been fighting all alone, scared. I’d speak to my inner child and tell them: We’re building something together.”
By high school, their mission had become clear: “I was born to be useful in this world,” says Rita. “I was born to make a change.”
IGDN entered Rita’s life at the perfect moment. Rita’s physics teacher, Nuntiwan “Koi” Sorasis, had received a letter from IGDN about their leadership initiative, and she immediately alerted her most passionate student. Rita applied and was accepted, joining IGDN’s training sessions throughout their junior year, alongside students from across northeast Thailand. Back in Nong Khai, Rita transmitted that training into a peer group of other LGBTQI+ students and allies. All summer, the group planned an all-day, all-student workshop called “Expanding Perspectives Beyond Male-Female,” filled with activities about Thailand’s rigid gender norms and patriarchal traditions – and imagining a more diverse, inclusive society.
In September 2024, at the beginning of Rita’s senior year, the group led their workshop for nearly 80 students. The impact on Rita’s school was immediate.
“Thai schools leave topics of gender and sexuality out the official curriculum – it’s a taboo,” says Rita’s teacher, Koi. “But on that day, I watched my students become liberated.”
Kawina Laphukhiew (Maprang), 16, was one of Rita’s peers most devoted to planning their workshop.
“The older generations are stuck in their ways. And as those older people pass away, so will these traditional ideas about gender and sexuality,” she says. “We get to change society now.”
Rita and Maprang at a local noodle shop after school lets out. Photo by Luke Duggelby.
Rita plans to lead more programs throughout senior year to keep engaging other students. And once they graduate, the sky is the limit.
“For me, activism helps people understand that they are not alone. I’m here to give courage to people who are still struggling. I want people to feel free to stand beside me,” says Rita wistfully. “The world that I dream of, it can be explained simply: I want people to know that they are good enough, and that diversity is beautiful.”