Right now, Kenya is reeling. The Trump administration’s overnight suspension of USAID funding is already profoundly changing people’s lives. This funding went to programs supporting access to clean water, treatment of infectious disease and the day-to-day operation of community-based organizations standing up for the rights of the country’s marginalized communities. By one estimate, Kenya will …
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Like most Indians, Ritwik “Ritu” Chakravarty was raised with a strict notion of traditional gender roles. But for Ritu, who identifies as a trans woman, such rigidity never made sense. “My name, Ritu, means ‘weather’ or ‘season,’” she says today. “And my gender was fluid, changing like the weather.” This openness has allowed Ritu to …
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Antony Montesino was born with a blessing that many LGBTQI+ people in El Salvador can only dream of: a supportive, loving family. But when both his parents died when Antony was 22, he was left to raise his four younger sisters alone. That shift transformed Antony into a dedicated caretaker and leader — a role …
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Today, 26-year-old Kahory Ramos lights up any room she walks into — brimming with positive energy and enthusiasm. But her journey to embrace herself was difficult, and at times, dangerous. Kahory grew up in a poor, traditional neighborhood outside La Unión, El Salvador — with four siblings steeped in the country’s sexist, ‘machismo’ culture. Kahory …
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